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Catalogue 

OF  THE 

Retrospective  JJoan  Cixhibition 

OF 

QUROPEAN  ©APESTRIES 
HELD  IN  THE 

@AN  Hrancisco  (ii  useum  of  E[RT 

CDCMXXII 


@cfia@@©a®e  :  uxnus  •  quqq&& 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 

in  2007  with  funding  from 

Microsoft  Corporation 


http://www.archive.org/details/catalogueofretroOOsanfrich 


EUROPEAN    TAPESTRIES 


SAN    FRANCISCO    MUSEUM    OF   ART 


CATALOGUE 

OF    THE 

RETROSPECTIVE  LOAN  EXHIBITION 

OF  &/ 

/  EUROPEAN  TAPESTRIES 


/ 


BY 

PHYLLIS  ACKERMAN 

M.A.J  PH.D. 


WITH    A    PREFACE    BY 

J.  NILSEN   LAURVIK 

DIRECTOR 


SAN  FRANCISCO 

PUBLISHED  BY  THE  MUSEUM 

MCMXXII 


'Published  September  2^,  ig22y  in  an  edition  of 
2000  copies.  Copyright,  1(^22,  by  San  Francisco 
Museum  of  Art. 

'Printed  by  Taylor  ^  Taylor,  San  Francisco. 
In  the  making  of  the  type-design  for  the  cover,  the 
printer  has  introduced  an  illuminated  fifteenth- 
century  y^oodcut  by  an  unknown  master.  Its  original 
appears,  illuminated  as  shown,  in  *^V Istoire  de  la 
Destruction  de  Tro'je  la  Grant,''''  a  book  printed 
at  Paris,  dated  May  I2, 1484,  of  ztrhich  only  a 
single  copy  is  known  to  exist,  that  in  the  Royal 
Library  at  Dresden,  this  reproduction  having  been 
made  from  the  excellent  facsimile  of  the  block  shown 
in  Claudin's '^Histoire  de  P Imprimerie en  France." 
The  border-design  of  the  cover  is  composed  of  the 
names  of  the  chief  tapestry-producing  cities  in  Europe 
during  the  Gothic  and  Renaissance  periods. 

Halftones  made  by  Commercial  Art  Company,  San 
Francisco. 


PREFACE 

This  historical  exhibition  of  European  Tapestries  is  the  fourth  in  a  series  of  retro- 
spective exhibitions  which  we  have  planned  to  illustrate  the  chronological  develop- 
ment of  some  important  phase  of  world-art,  as  in  the  Old  Masters  Exhibition,  held 
in  the  fall  of  1920,  or  of  the  art  of  an  individual  in  whose  work  is  significantly- 
reflected  the  spirit  of  his  age,  as  in  the  J.  Pierpont  Morgan  Collection  of  drawings 
and  etchings  by  Rembrandt,  exhibited  here  in  the  spring  of  1920. 

In  its  scope  and  general  lines  this  exhibition  follows  closely  the  plan  of  our  Exhi- 
bition of  Paintings  by  Old  Masters,  and,  as  will  at  once  be  apparent  from  the 
subject-matter  and  treatment,  covers  the  same  period  of  European  history.  Although 
important  exhibitions  of  European  tapestries  have  been  held  at  various  times  both 
here  and  abroad,  it  has  remained  for  our  museum  to  arrange  the  first  complete 
historical  survey  of  this  art  given  in  America.  This  collection  presents  in  unbroken 
sequence  the  main  currents  influential  in  the  development  and  decadence  of  the 
great  art  of  tapestry-weaving  in  Europe,  from  the  XlVth  century  down  to  and 
including  the  early  XlXth  century,  as  exhibited  in  the  work  of  the  foremost  design- 
ers and  weavers  of  the  period,  in  examples  that,  for  the  most  part,  are  brilliantly 
typical  and  always  characteristic  of  their  particular  style. 

Virtually,  every  loom  of  importance  in  France,  Flanders,  Germany,  Switzerland, 
Spain,  England,  and  Russia  is  here  represented  by  historically  famous  pieces  which 
run  the  entire  gamut  of  subjects  that  engaged  the  interest  of  the  most  celebrated 
designers  and  weavers  of  each  epoch,  from  allegorical,  classical,  historical,  and 
mythological  to  genre  subjects,  landscapes,  religious  pieces,  and  even  portraits  and 
still-life  subjects.  The  only  omissions  of  any  consequence  are  the  Italian  looms  and 
Soho,  and  the  output  of  these  was  relatively  small  and  the  examples  extant  are  very 
scarce.  However,  their  absence  does  not  materially  aff'ect  the  historical  integrity  of 
the  exhibition  as  a  whole.  On  the  other  hand,  the  Gothic  series  is  perhaps  the  most 
complete  assemblage  of  all  the  most  important  types  ev^er  brought  together  at  one 
time  in  this  country,  and  every  important  type  of  Renaissance  design  is  here 
included;  the  collection  comprises  two  of  the  excessively  rare  products  of  the 
Fontainebleau  ateliers,  as  well  as  unusually  fine  specimens  of  the  relatively  scarce 
examples  of  the  Spanish  and  Russian  looms. 

My  chief  concern  in  organizing  this  exhibition  has  been  to  make  it  exemplify, 
first,  the  history  of  tapestry,  and,  second,  its  aesthetic  qualities  as  these  have 
appeared  during  the  difl*erent  periods  of  its  changing  and  varying  development, 
which,  like  the  art  of  painting,  had  its  naive,  primitive  beginnings,  its  glorious 
culmination,  and  its  decline.  Therefore,  every  piece  has  been  selected  both  to  repre- 
sent a  distinct  and  significant  type  in  the  chronology  of  the  art  and  to  illustrate  the 
artistic  merits  of  that  type,  and  all  the  tapestries  shown  are  of  the  highest  worth  in 
their  particular  category  and  many  of  them  are  among  the  supreme  masterpieces 
of  European  art,  considered  from  whatever  point  of  view  one  may  choose  to  regard 
them.  Only  too  long  have  these  noble  products  of  the  loom  been  relegated  to  a 


6  PREFACE 

secondary  place  In  the  history  of  European  culture,  which  they  did  so  much  to 
celebrate.  I  sincerely  trust  that  this  exhibition,  culled  from  seventeen  collections 
in  New  York,  San  Francisco,  and  Paris,  may  successfully  contribute  something 
toward  abolishing  the  hypnotic  spell  of  the  gold-framed  oil-painting,  that  artistic 
fetish  which  too  long  has  held  the  uncritical  enthralled  to  the  exclusion  of  other 
and  ofttimes  more  authentic  manifestations  of  the  human  spirit  in  art. 

Regarded  from  the  standpoint  of  design  alone,  the  extraordinary  co-ordination  of 
color  and  pattern  (not  to  speak  of  the  depth  and  richness  of  the  inner  content) 
exhibited  in  certain  of  these  pieces  is  a  sharp  challenge  to  the  oft-repeated  distinc- 
tion drawn  between  the  major  and  the  minor  arts,  and  one  is  constrained,  after 
studying  these  tapestries,  to  conclude  that  there  are  no  major  or  minor  arts,  only 
major  and  minor  artists,  and  that  greatness  transfigures  the  material  to  the  point 
of  art,  be  it  paint  or  potter's  clay,  and  a  simple  Tanagra  transcends  in  worth  all 
the  gilded  and  bejeweled  banalities  of  Cellini,  whose  essentially  flamboyant  soul 
sought  refuge  in  gold  and  precious  stones.  This  truth,  too  rarely  insisted  upon,  is 
of  prime  importance  in  any  consideration  of  art,  whether  it  be  "fine"  or  applied 
art,  and  a  collection  such  as  this  should  do  much  to  make  it  clear.  Here  one  may 
observe  how  the  principles  of  design  and  color  that  animate  the  immortal  master- 
pieces of  mural  painting  are  identical  with  those  that  give  life  and  vitality  to  these 
masterpieces  of  the  loom,  and  thereby  apprehend  something  of  that  mysterious 
law  governing  the  operation  of  the  creative  impulse  which  finds  its  expression  in 
all  the  arts,  irrespective  of  time  and  place,  whether  it  be  in  rugs,  porcelains,  Persian 
tiles  and  manuscripts,  in  European  primitives,  or  in  the  works  of  Chinese  and 
Japanese  old  masters,  transcending  racial  differences  and  attaining  a  universal 
afiinity  that  makes  a  Holbein  one  with  a  Chinese  ancestral  portrait.  Surely  such 
opulent  fantasy  of  design  and  color  as  is  revealed  in  Nos.  i,  3,  5,  and  17,  to  mention 
only  four  of  the  Gothic  pieces  in  the  collection,  is  deserving  of  something  better 
than  the  left-handed  compliment  of  a  comparison  with  painting. 

In  their  masterly  filling  of  the  allotted  space,  in  the  fine  subordination  of  the 
varied  details  to  the  general  effect,  as  well  as  in  the  loftiness  and  intensity  of  the 
emotion  expressed,  these  glorious  products  of  the  loom  are  worthy  exemplars  of  the 
highest  ideals  of  mural  decoration  no  less  than  of  the  aristocratic  art  of  tapestry- 
weaving.  Reflections  such  as  these  are  the  natural  consequence  of  a  comparative 
study  of  art,  and  these  and  kindred  reasons  are  the  impelling  causes  prompting  one 
to  exhibit,  not  only  tapestries,  but  rugs  and  textiles  of  all  kinds,  in  an  art  museum 
and  to  give  them  the  same  serious  study  one  would  accord  a  Leonardo,  a  Giotto,  a 
Rembrandt,  ^sthetically  and  racially,  they  are  no  less  revealing  and  frequently 
more  interesting  in  that  they  are  the  products  of  the  earliest  expressions  of  those 
aesthetic  impulses  the  manifestation  of  which  has  come  to  be  called  art;  nor  are 
they  less  authentic  and  expressive  because  communicated  with  the  force  and 
directness  of  the  primitive  loom,  which  give  to  all  its  products  a  certain  character 
and  worth  rarely  equaled  by  the  more  sophisticated  products  of  the  so-called  fine 
arts. 


PREFACE  7 

It  is  our  hope  that  this  catalogue  will  serve  as  a  helpful  guide  to  all  those  wishing 
to  make  such  use  of  this  collection.  Every  serious  student  of  the  subject  no  less 
than  every  unbiased  specialist  will,  I  am  sure,  appreciate  at  its  true  worth  the 
scholarly  work  done  by  Dr.  Ackerman,  whose  researches  have  made  such  a  text 
possible.  Bringing  to  the  task  a  critical  judgment  and  a  scientific  method  of  analysis 
hitherto  applied  almost  exclusively  to  the  identification  and  interpretation  of 
primitive  paintings,  the  author  has  been  able  to  correct  several  well-established 
errors  and  to  throw  new  light  on  many  doubtful  and  obscure  points  which  are  so 
well  documented  as  should  make  them  contributions  of  permanent  value  to  the 
literature  of  the  subject. 

In  conclusion  we  wish  to  thank  Messrs.  William  Baumgarten  &  Company,  C. 
Templeton  Crocker,  Demotte,  Duveen  Brothers,  P.  W.  French  &  Company,  A.  J. 
Halow,  Jacques  Seligmann  &  Company,  Dikran  K.  Kelekian,  Frank  Partridge,  Inc., 
W.  &  J.  Sloane,  William  C.  Van  Antwerp,  Wildenstein  &  Company,  and  Mesdames 
James  Creelman,  William  H.  Crocker,  Daniel  C.  Jackling,  and  Maison  Jamarin  of 
Paris,  for  their  kindness  in  lending  us  these  priceless  examples  of  the  European 
weavers'  art  that  constitute  this  notable  assemblage  of  tapestries,  and  to  record  our 
deep  appreciation  of  the  generous  co-operation  of  the  patrons  and  patronesses  whose 
sponsorship  has  made  the  exhibition  possible  by  guaranteeing  the  very  considerable 
expense  involved  in  bringing  the  collection  to  San  Francisco.  And  last,  but  not 
least,  we  wish  to  express  our  grateful  appreciation  of  the  unremitting  thought  and 
attention  devoted  by  the  printer  to  designing  and  executing  the  very  fitting  typo- 
graphical form  that  contributes  so  largely  to  making  the  varied  material  contained 
herein  readily  available  to  the  reader,  and  to  acknowledge,  on  behalf  of  the  author, 
the  friendly  help  of  Arthur  Upham  Pope,  whose  suggestions  and  criticisms  have 
been  found  of  real  value  in  the  preparation  of  the  text  of  the  catalogue. 

J.  NiLSEN  Laurvik,  Director 

San  Francisco,  September  29,  1922. 


The  reader  will  please  add  the  name  of  Mrs.  A.  S.  Baldwin 
to  the  following  list  oj  patrons  and  patronesses. 


The  patrons  and  patronesses  of  the  Exhibition  are:  Messrs.  William  C.  Van  Antwerp, 
Edwin  Raymond  Armsby,  Leon  Bocqueraz^  Francis  Carolan^  C.  Templeton  Crocker, 
Sidney  M.  Ehrman,  William  L.  Gerstle,  Joseph  D.  Grant,  Walter  S.  Martin,  James 
D.Phelan,  George  A.Pope,Laurance  Irving  Scott,  Paul  Verdier,  John  I.  Walter,  Michel 
D.  Weill,  and  Mesdames  C.  Templeton  Crocker,  Henry  J.  Crocker,  William  H.  Crocker, 
Marcus  Koshland,  Eleanor  Martin,  George  A.  Pope,  and  Misses  Helen  Cowell  and 
Isabel  Cowell,  and  The  Emporium. 


THE  SAN  FRANCISCO  MUSEUM  OF  ART 

BOARD    OF    TRUSTEES 

WILLIAM  C.  VAN  ANTWERP,  EDWIN  RAYMOND  ARMSBY 

ARTHUR  BROWN,  JR.,  FRANCIS  CAROLAN,  CHARLES  W.  CLARK 

CHARLES  TEMPLETON  CROCKER 
WILLIAM  H.   CROCKER,  JOHN    S.  DRUM,   SIDNEY  M.   EHRMAN 

JOSEPH  D.  GRANT,  DANIEL  C.  JACKLING 
WALTER    S.    MARTIN,    JAMES    D.    PHELAN,    GEORGE    A.    POPE 
LAURANCE  I.  SCOTT,  RICHARD  M.  TOBIN 
JOHN  I.  WALTER 

DIRECTOR 

J.  NILSEN  LAURVIK 

THE    MUSEUM    IS    HOUSED    IN    THE    PALACE    OF    FINE    ARTS 

ERECTED   BY  THE    PANAMA-PACIFIC  INTERNATIONAL 

EXPOSITION  IN  I9I5 


CONTENTS 

For  a  detailed  list  of  the  tapestries 

catalogued  herein  see  the  subject  and  title  index  at 

the  end  oj the  volume 

% 

PREFACE  Page     5 

INTRODUCTION  II 

CATALOGUE  25 

LISTOFWEAVERS  58 

BIBLIOGRAPHY  59 

SUBJECTANDTITLEINDEX  61 

ILLUSTRATIONS 

MAP  Facing  Page  1 6 

Showing  the  principal  centers  of  production  of  Gothic  and  early 
Renaissance  tapestries 

TAPESTRIES 

The  Annunciation  Facing  Page  24 

The  Chase  25 

The  Annunciation^  the  Nativity,  and  the  Announcement  to  the  Shepherds  26 

Scenes  from  the  Roman  de  la  Rose  27 

The  Vintage  3° 

Entombment  on  Millefleurs  3 1 

Millefleurs  with  Shepherds  and  the  Shield  of  the  Rigaut  Family  32 

Pastoral  Scene  33 

The  Creation  of  the  World  34 


lO  ILLUSTRATIONS 

Four  Scenes  from  the  Life  of  Christ  Facing  Page  35 

The  Triumph  of  David  og 

Two  Pairs  of  Lovers  oq 

Hannibal  Approaches  Scipio  to  Sue  for  Peace  40 

Cyrus  Captures  Astyages,  His  Grandfather  41 

The  Crucifixion  42 

Grotesques  4« 

Triumph  of  Diana  45 

The  Niobides  4<7 

Scene  from  the  History  of  Cleopatra  48 

Verdure  40 

Verdure  with  Dancing  Nymphs                                      ^-  ro 

The  Conquest  of  Louis  the  Great  t\ 

The  Poisoning  of  a  Spy  ^4 

The  Arms  of  France  and  Navarre  55 


INTRODUCTION 

AN  HISTORICAL  AND  CRITICAL  SURVEY 

OF  THE  ART  OF  TAPESTRY 

WEAVING 

Tapestry  is  a  compound  art.  It  stands  at  the  meeting-point  of  three  other  arts, 
and  so  is  beset  by  the  problems  of  all  three.  In  the  first  place,  it  is  illustrative,  for 
while  there  are  tapestries  that  show  only  a  sprinkling  of  flowers,  a  conventionalized 
landscape,  or  an  armorial  shield,  the  finest  and  most  typical  pieces  are  those  with 
personnages  that  represent  some  episode  from  history,  myth,  or  romance,  or  give  a 
glimpse  of  the  current  usages  of  daily  life.  In  the  second  place,  tapestry  is  a  mural 
decoration.  It  is  part  of  the  architectural  setting  of  the  rooms,  really  one  with  the 
wall.  And,  in  the  third  place,  it  is  a  woven  material — a  solid  fabric  of  wool  or  silk 
in  the  simplest  of  all  techniques. 

Since  a  tapestry  is  an  illustration,  it  must  be  realistic  and  convincing,  accurate 
in  details  and  clearly  indicative  of  the  story.  Because  it  is  also  a  wall  decoration, 
it  cannot  be  too  realistic,  but  must  be  structural  in  feeling  and  design,  and  the 
details  must  fall  into  broad  masses  that  carry  a  strong  effect  from  a  distance. 
And  since  it  is  a  "woven  material,  even  if  it  be  structural,  it  must  be  flexible,  and 
must  have  a  fullness  of  ornament  that  will  enrich  the  whole  surface  so  that  none 
of  it  will  fall  to  the  level  of  mere  cloth. 

But  if  the  tapestry  designer  have  a  difficult  problem  in  resolving  these  conflicting 
demands  of  the  different  aspects  of  his  art,  he  has  also  wider  opportunities  to 
realize  within  those  limitations.  As  an  illustration,  if  he  handle  it  with  skill,  he 
can  make  the  design  convey  all  the  fascination  of  romance  and  narrative.  As  a  " 
mural  decoration  his  design  can  attain  a  dignity  and  noble  reserve  denied  to 
smaller  illustrations,  splendid  in  itself,  and  valuable  for  counterbalancing  the  dis- 
proportionate literary  interest  that  the  subject  sometimes  arouses.  And  the  thick 
material,  with  its  soft,  uneven  surface,  lends,  even  to  a  trivial  design,  a  richness 
and  mellowness  that  the  painter  can  achieve  only  in  the  greatest  moments  of  his 
work. 

The  designer  of  tapestry  can  steer  his  way  among  the  difficulties  of  the  three 
phases  of  his  art,  and  win  the  advantages  of  them  all  only  if  he  have  a  fine  and 
sensitive  feeling  for  the  qualities  that  he  must  seek.  A  realism  flattened  to  the^ 
requirement  of  mural  decoration  and  formalized  to  the  needs  of  the  technique  of  ] 
weaving,  that  still  retains  the  informality  and  charm  of  the  illustrationjf  can  best 
be  won  by  considering  the  design  as  a  pattern  of  silhouettes;  for  a  silhouette  is 
flat,  and  so  does  not  violate  the  structural  flatness  of  the  wall  by  bulging  out  in 
high  modeling.  Moreover,  it  does  give  a  broad,  strong  effect  that  can  carry  across  - 
a  large  roomj  And,  finally,  it  permits  both  of  adaptation  in  attitude  and  gesture 


12  INTRODUCTION 

to  the  needs  of  the  story  and  of  jeasy-flowing  lines  that  can  reshape  themselves  to 
the  changing  folds  of  a  textile!  So,  to  make  good  silhouettes,  the  figures  in  a  good 
tapestry  design  will  be  arranged  in  the  widest,  largest  planes  possible,  as  they  are 
in  a  fine  Greek  relief,  and  they  will  be  outlined  with  clear,  decisive,  continuous 
lines,  definitive  of  character,  expressive  and  vivacious.* 

The  strength  and  vivacity  of  the  outline  is  of  prime  significance  in  tapestry 
design,  even  though  in  its  final  effect  it  appears  not  primarily  as  a  linear  art,  but 
rather  as  a  color  art.  The  outlines  have  to  be  both  clearly  drawn  in  the  cartoon 
and  forcefully  presented  in  the  weave;  for  they  bear  the  burden  both  of  the  illus- 
trative expressiveness  and  of  the  decorative  definition.  If  they  are  weakened  in; 
delineation  or  submerged  by  the  glow  of  the  colors,  the  tapestry  becomes  confused 
in  import,  weak  in  emphasis,  and  blurred  in  all  its  relations,  while  the  charm  and 
interest  of  detail  is  quite  lost.  The  too  heavy  lines  of  some  of  the  primitive  tapestries 
are  less  a  defect  than  the  too  delicate  lines  of  the  later  pieces  designed  by  those 
who  were  primarily  painters,  and  which  were  too  much  adapted  to  the  painting 
technique.  The  outlines  in  the  best  tapestries  are  not  only  indicated  with  a  good 
deal  of  force,  but  these  lines  themselves  have  unflagging  energy,  unambiguous 
direction,  diversified  movement,  and  unfaltering  control. 

In  order  to  complete  and  establish  the  silhouette  effect,  the  color  in  the  best 
tapestries  is  laid  on  in  broad  flat  areas,  each  containing  only  a  limited  number  of 
tones.  A  gradual  transition  of  tone  through  many  shades  is  undesirable,  because 
such  modulations  convey  an  impression  of  relief  modeling,  which  is  inappropriate 
and  superfluous  in  an  art  of  silhouette.  Then,  again,  these  gradations  at  a  little 
distance  tend  to  fuse,  and  thus  somewhat  blur  the  force  and  purity  of  the  color; 
and,  finally,  a  considerable  number  of  color  transitions  are  ill-adapted  to  the 
character  of  a  textile,  as  they  tend  to  make  it  appear  too  much  like  painting.  Nor 
are  fluctuating  tones  and  minute  value-gradations  necessary  for  a  soft  and  varied 
effect.  The  very  quality  of  tapestry  material  accomplishes  that — first,  because  thej 
ribbed  surface  breaks  up  the  flatness  of  any  color  area  and  gives  it  shimmeringj 
variations  of  light  and  shade,  and,  second,  because  the  wide  folds  natural  to  the' 
material  throw  the  flat  tones  now  into  dark  and  now  into  light,  thus  by  direct 
light  and  shade  differentiating  values  that  in  the  dyes  themselves  are  identical. 
Color  in  tapestry  can  thus  be  used  in  purer,  more  saturated  masses  than  in  any 
form  of  painting,  not  excepting  even  the  greatest  murals. 

Flat  silhouetted  figures  cannot  of  course  be  set  in  a  three-dimensional  world. 
They  would  not  fit.  So  the  landscape,  too,  must  be  flattened  out  into  artificially 
simplified  stages.  This  is  also  necessary  both  for  the  architectural  and  the  decora- 
tive effect  of  tapestry,  for  otherwise  the  remote  vistas  tend  to  give  the  effect 
of  holes  in  the  wall,  and  the  distance,  dimmed  by  atmosphere,  is  too  pallid  and 
empty  to  be  interesting  as  textile  design.  Yet  the  fact  of  perspective  cannot  be 
altogether  denied.  Often  the  designer  can  avoid  or  limit  the  problem  by  cutting 
off  the  farther  views  with  a  close  screen  of  trees  and  buildings,  and  this  has  also 
the  advantage  of  giving  a  strong  backdrop  against  which  the  figures  stand  out  firm 


INTRODUCTION  13 

and  clear.  But  there  are  occasions  in  which  a  wider  field  is  essential  for  the  purposes 
of  illustration.  The  problem  is  how  to  show  a  stretch  of  country  and  still  keep  it 
flat  and  full  of  detail.  In  the  most  skillful  periods  of  tapestry  design  the  difficulty 
was  met  by  reducing  the  perspective  to  three  or  four  sharply  stepped  levels  of 
distance,  laid  one  above  the  other  in  informal  horizontal  strips.  Aerial  perspective 
was  disregarded,  each  strip  being  filled  with  details,  all  sharply  drawn  but  dimin- 
ishing in  size.  The  scene  was  thus  kept  relatively  flat,  was  adapted  to  flat  figures, 
and  was  also  filled  with  interesting  details. 

This  fullness  of  detail  is  important  in  tapestries  and  is  the  source  of  much  of 
their  richness  and  charm.  The  great  periods  of  weaving  made  lavish  use  of  an 
amazing  variety  of  incidents  and  effects:  the  pattern  of  a  gown,  jewels,  the  chasing 
or  relief  on  a  piece  of  armor,  bits  of  decorative  architecture,  carved  furniture,  and 
the  numerous  household  utensils,  quaint  in  shape  or  suddenly  vivid  in  color — all 
these,  with  the  innumerable  flowers,  the  veritable  menagerie  of  beasts,  real  and 
imaginary,  gayly  patterned  birds,  as  well  as  rivers,  groves,  and  mountains,  make 
up  the  properties  with  which  the  designer  fills  his  spaces  and  creates  a  composition 
of  inexhaustible  resource  and  delight, 
f  So  with  flat  figures,  strong  outlines,  deep,  pure,  and  simple  colors,  a  flattened 
setting,  and  a  wealth  of  details,  the  artist  can  make  a  tapestry  that  will  be  at  the 
same  time  both  a  representative  and  an  expressive  illustration,  an  architectural 
wall  decoration,  and  a  sumptuous  piece  of  material.  But  even  then  he  has  not 
solved  every  difficulty;  for  the  tapestry  cannot  be  merely  beautiful  in  itself.  It 
has  to  serve  as  a  background  for  a  room  and  for  the  lives  lived  in  it;  so  it  must  be 
consonant  in  color  and  line  quality  with  the  furniture  current  at  the  time  it  is 
made,  and  it  must  meet  the  prevailing  interests  of  the  people.  Moreover,  while  it 
must  be  rich  enough  to  absorb  the  loitering  attention,  it  must  also  have  sufficient 
repose  and  reserve  and  aloofness  not  to  intrude  unbidden  into  the  eye  and  not  to 
be  too  wearyingly  exciting — and  this  last  was  sometimes  no  easy  problem  to  solve 
when  the  designer  was  bidden  to  illustrate  a  rapidly  moving  and  dramatic  tale. 
Sometimes,  in  truth,  he  did  not  solve  it,  but  sometimes  he  employed  with  subtle 
skill  the  device  of  so  dispersing  his  major  points  of  action  that  until  they  are 
examined  carefully  they  merge  into  a  general  mass  effect.  — --^ 

While  the  designers  have  at  different  periods  met  these  various  problems  in 
different  ways  and  with  varying  skill,  the  technique  of  the  weaving  has  never 
been  modified  to  any  extent.  For  centuries  this  simple  kind  of  weaving  has  been 
done.  In  essentials  it  is  the  same  as  that  used  in  the  most  primitive  kind  of  cloth 
manufacture.  The  warps  are  stretched  on  a  frame  that  may  rest  horizontally  or 
stand  upright.  The  shuttle  full  of  thread  of  the  desired  color  is  passed  over  and 
under  the  alternate  warps,  the  return  reversing  the  order,  now  under  the  warps 
where  it  was  before  over,  and  over  where  it  was  under.  A  comb  is  used  to  push 
the  wefts  thus  woven  close  together  so  that  they  entirely  cover  the  warps.  In  the 
finished  tapestry  the  warps  run  horizontally  across  the  design.  A  change  of  colors 
in  the  weft-threads  creates  the  pattern.    In  the  more  complex  patterns  of  later 


14  INTRODUCTION 

works  the  weaver  follows  the  design  drawn  in  outline  on  his  warps,  or  sometimes, 
in  the  horizontal  looms,  follows  the  pattern  drawn  on  a  paper  laid  under  his 
warps  so  that  he  looks  down  through  them.  His  color  cues  he  takes  from  the  fully 
painted  cartoon  suspended  somewhere  near  in  easy  view.  Occasionally,  in  later 
pieces,  to  enrich  the  effect,  the  simple  tapestry  weave  is  supplemented  with  another 
technique,  such  as  brocading  (cf.  No.  52),  but  this  is  rare. 

All  the  earliest  examples  left  to  us  of  this  kind  of  weaving  are  akin  to  tapestry 
as  we  usually  know  it  only  in  technique.  They  have  practically  no  bearing  on  the 
development  of  its  design.  Of  the  very  earliest  we  have  no  evidence  left  by  which 
to  judge.  Homer,  the  Bible,  and  a  number  of  Latin  authors  all  mention  textiles  that 
probably  could  be  classed  as  tapestries;  but  the  references  are  too  general  to  give 
us  any  definite  clue  as  to  the  treatment  of  the  design.  But  from  the  Vlth  to  the 
Vlllth  century,  the  Copts  in  Egypt  produced  many  pieces,  showing,  usually  in 
very  small  scale,  birds  and  animals  and  foliage,  and  even  groups  of  people.  Of 
these  we  have  many  samples  left.  From  various  parts  of  Europe,  primarily  from 
Germany,  in  the  next  two  centuries  we  have  a  few  famous  examples.  But  these  are 
almost  wholly  without  significant  relation  to  the  central  development  of  tapestry 
design.  Tapestry,  in  our  sense  of  the  word,  begins,  as*  far  as  extant  examples  are 
concerned,  with  the  XlVth  century. 

From  the  XlVth  to  the  end  of  the  XVth  century  was  the  Gothic  period.  Then 
tapestry  was  at  its  greatest  height.  More  of  the  requisites  of  its  design  were  met, 
and  met  more  adequately  and  more  naturally,  than  by  any  subsequent  school  of 
designers  or  any  looms.  As  illustration,  the  tapestry  of  the  Gothic  period  is  inter- 
esting, vivid,  and  provocative.  The  stories  and  episodes  that  it  presents  were,  to 
be  sure,  all  part  of  the  mental  content  of  the  audience,  so  that  they  comprehended 
them  more  immediately  than  we;  but  even  without  the  literary  background  we 
follow  them  readily,  so  adequate  is  their  delineation.  Moreover,  they  carry  success- 
fully almost  every  narrative  mood — humor,  romance,  lyricism,  excitement,  pathos, 
and  pure  adventure — and,  except  in  the  traditional  religious  scenes,  they  wisely 
eschew  such  tenser  dramatic  attitudes  as  a  momentous  climax,  long-sustained 
suspense,  or  profound  tragedy.  Finally,  when  they  had  a  good  tale  to  tell,  the 
Gothic  designers  rendered  their  episodes  with  a  fullness  of  incident  and  a  vivacity 
of  detail  never  again  equaled. 

As  mural  decorations,  too,  the  Gothic  tapestries  are  equally  successful.  For  the 
figures  are  always  flat  and,  even  while  natural  and  animated,  are  often  slightly 
formalized  and  structural  in  drawing  (cf.  No.  10);  the  outlines  are  clean  and  active, 
the  colors  strong  and  broad,  the  vistas  either  eliminated  as  in  the  millefleurs  (cf. 
No.  11)  or  completely  simplified  (cf.  No.  13),  while  the  details  are  abundant  and 
delightful.  Finally,  they  are  among  the  most  sumptuous  textiles  ever  woven  in  the 
Western  World — sumptuous,  not  because  of  costly  material,  for  they  only  rarely 
use  metal  thread,  and  even  silk  is  unusual,  but  sumptuous  because  of  the  variety 
and  magnificence  of  their  designs  and  the  splendor  and  opulence  of  their  color. 

Thus  the  Gothic  designers  both  appreciated  and  employed  to  the  full  all  of 


INTRODUCTION  15 

the  aesthetic  conditions  of  their  art;  yet  they  did  not  do  this  from  any  theoretical 
comprehension  of  the  medium.  The  supremacy  of  Gothic  tapestry  rests  on  a 
broad  basis.  It  is  the  final  product  of  one  of  the  most  vital  and  creative  epochs 
in  the  history  of  art;  its  designers  were  brought  up  in  a  great  tradition,  surrounded 
everywhere  by  the  most  magnificent  architectural  monuments,  accustomed  to  the 
habit  of  beauty  in  small  as  well  as  great  things,  still  inspired  and  nourished  by  the 
fertile  spirit  that  had  created  and  triumphantly  solved  so  many  problems  in  the 
field  of  art.  A  passion  for  perfection  and  an  elevated  and  sophisticated  taste  ani- 
mated all  of  the  crafts,  of  which  tapestry  was  but  one.  The  full  flowering  of  tapestry 
is  contemporaneous  with  that  of  Limoges  enamel,  paralleling  it  in  many  ways, 
even  to  the  employment  of  the  same  designers  (cf.  No.  7).  Great  armor  was  being 
made  at  the  same  time — armor  that  exemplified  as  never  before  or  since  its  inherent 
qualities  and  possibilities:  perfection  of  form  and  finish,  a  sensitive  and  expressive 
surface,  and  exquisite  decoration  logically  developed  out  of  construction.  Furniture 
also  achieved  at  that  time  a  combination  of  strength  with  natural  and  imaginative 
embellishments  that  still  defies  copy,  while  the  first  publishers  were  producing  the 
most  beautiful  books  that  have  ever  been  printed,  unsurpassable  in  the  clear  and 
decorative  silhouette  of  the  type,  in  the  perfection  of  tone,  and  in  the  balanced 
spacing  of  the  composition.  Other  textile  arts,  such  as  that  of  velvet  and  brocade 
weaving,  reached  the  utmost  heights  of  subtlety  and  magnificence.  This  easy 
achievement  of  masterpieces  in  kindred  fields,  so  characteristic  of  great  epochs, 
doubtless  stimulated  tapestry-weaving  as  it  did  every  other  art. 

This  great  achievement  of  the  Gothic  period  in  so  many  fields  of  art  was  the 
natural  flowering  of  the  spirit  of  the  time.  Life  for  all  was  limited  in  content, 
education  as  we  understand  it  meager  and  ill-diffused,  opportunities  for  advance- 
ment for  the  individual  about  non-existent.  Despite  these  limitations — partly, 
indeed,  because  of  them — and  despite  the  physical  disorders  of  the  age,  there 
were,  none  the  less,  a  simplicity  and  unity  of  mind  and  an  integrity  of  spirit  that 
provided  the  basis  for  great  achievement.  The  spontaneous  and  tremendous  energy, 
the  inexhaustible  fertility  that  was  an  inheritance  from  their  Prankish  and  Germanic 
forbears  were  now  moulded  and  controlled  by  common  institutions,  by  the  accep- 
tance of  common  points  of  view  and  the  consciousness  of  unified  and  fundamental 
principles  of  life,  the  acceptance  of  an  authoritative  social  system  that  defined 
and  limited  each  man's  ambitions.  All  these  factors  prevented  the  protracted  self- 
analysis,  the  aimless  criticism,  the  uncertainties  and  confusion  of  individual  aims 
that  consume  our  energies,  detract  from  our  will,  and  impoverish  our  accomplish- 
ments. Theirs  was  in  no  sense  an  ambiguous  age;  they  were  conscious  of  a  universal 
spirit,  continuously  pressing  for  expression  in  art  which  could  fortunately  forge 
straight  ahead  to  objective  embodiment. 

The  stimulation  of  all  of  the  arts  had  come  in  part,  too,  from  the  inrush  of  culture 
from  the  Byzantine  Empire,  where  traditions  and  riches  had  been  heaping  up  con- 
tinuously ever  since  the  Greek  civilization  had  at  its  height  spilled  over  into  the 
East.  Every  flood-tide  of  culture  is  created  by  various  streams  of  ideas  and  customs 


l6  INTRODUCTION 

that  have  for  generations  taken  separate  courses.  All  competent  ethnologists  are 
agreed  that,  no  matter  what  the  native  equipment  of  a  people  is,  no  matter  how 
abundant  are  their  natural  resources,  how  friendly  and  encouraging  is  their  environ- 
ment or  how  threatening  and  stimulating,  one  stream  of  culture  flowing  alone 
never  rises  to  great  heights.  Invention,  evolved  organization,  and  artistic  production 
come  only  with  the  meeting  and  mingling  of  ideas  and  habits.  The  East  had  first 
fertilized  European  intellectual  creativeness  when  the  numerous  Crusades  and  the 
sacking  of  Constantinople  by  the  Franks  brought  a  wealth  of  novel  and  exciting 
ideas  into  France  and  the  neighboring  territories  in  the  Xlth  and  Xllth  centuries. 
There  followed  the  great  period  of  cathedral-building  with  all  the  minor  accom- 
panying artistic  developments  of  the  sculpture,  the  glass-painting,  the  manuscript 
illuminating,  the  enameling,  the  lyrics  of  Southern  France,  and  the  romances  and 
fabliaux  of  Northern.  This  tide  was  ebbing  slowly  when  a  second  rush  from  the 
East  incident  to  the  fall  of  Constantinople  in  1453  lifted  it  again.  The  art  of  tapestry 
was  especially  sensitive  to  this  second  Byzantine  influence.  The  industry  was 
coming  to  its  height;  the  demand  was  already  prodigious,  the  prices  paid  enormous, 
the  workers  highly  skilled  and  well  organized.  Tapestry  was  ready  to  assimilate 
any  relevant  contribution.  It  enthusiastically  took*  unto  itself  the  sumptuous 
luxury  of  the  decadent  Orient  with  its  splendid  fabrics,  encrusted  architecture, 
complex  patterns,  and  heavy  glowing  colors.  The  simple  Frankish  spirit  of  the  earlier 
pieces  (cf.No.2)  was  almost  submerged  by  the  riotously  extravagant  opulence  of  the 
East  (cf.  Nos.  17, 1 8) .  On  the  other  hand,  too,  from  the  jewelry  of  Scandinavia,  a  remote 
descendant  of  an  ancient  Oriental  precedent,  tapestry  adopted  examples  of  heavy 
richness  of  design.  And  at  the  same  time  it  took  also  from  the  Byzantine  some  of 
the  formality,  the  thickness  of  elaborate  drapery,  the  conventionalization  of  types, 
and  the  rigidity  of  drawing  that  had  paralyzed  the  art  of  Byzantium,  but  that  in 
tapestry  enhanced  the  architectural  character  and  so  constituted  a  real  addition. 
The  tendency  of  the  late  XlVth  century  to  an  absorption  in  an  exact  naturalism 
which  might  have  immediately  rushed  French  and  Flemish  taste  into  the  scientific 
realism  of  the  Florentine  Renaissance  was  checked  and  deflected  by  the  example 
and  the  memory  of  the  stiff  carven  form,  the  arrested  gestures,  and  the  fixed 
draperies  of  the  mosaics  and  manuscript  illuminations  of  the  Eastern  Empire  (cf. 
No.  8). 

But  aside  from  these  general  considerations,  which  were  vital  for  the  creation 
of  great  tapestries,  there  was  at  work  a  specific  principle  perhaps  even  more  im- 
portant. The  manner  of  treatment  which  the  tapestry  medium  itself  calls  for  was 
one  which  was  native  to  the  mind  of  the  time  and  which  declared  itself  in  a  great 
variety  of  forms. 

In  the  first  place,  the  Middle  Ages  were  in  spirit  narrative.  The  bulk  of  their 
literature  was  narrative — long  historical  or  romantic  poems  with  endless  sequences 
of  continued  episodes  that  never  came  to  any  dominating  climax.  Their  drama, 
too,  was  narrative,  a  story  recounted  through  a  number  of  scenes  that  could  be 
cut  short  at  almost  any  point  or  could  be  carried  on  indefinitely  without  destroying 


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INTRODUCTION  17 

the  structure,  because  there  was  no  inclusive  unity  in  them,  no  returning  of  the 
theme  on  itself  such  as  distinguishes  Greek  drama  or  Shakespeare  and  which  we 
demand  in  modern  times.  Their  religion  and  their  ethics  also  were  narrative, 
dependent,  for  the  common  man,  upon  the  life  history  of  sacred  individuals  that 
both  explained  the  fundamental  truths  of  the  universe  and  set  models  for  moral 
behavior.  And  they  were  supplemented,  too,  by  profane  histories  with  moralizing 
symbolism  contrived  to  point  the  way  to  the  good  life,  such  as  we  find  in  the 
Roman  de  la  Rose  (cf.No.4).  Even  their  lesser  ethics,  their  etiquette,  was  narrative, 
derived  from  the  fabric  of  chivalric  romance.  And,  again,  their  greatest  art,  their 
architecture,  was  adorned  with  narrative,  ornamented  with  multiple  histories,  so 
that  even  the  capital  of  a  column  told  a  tale.  The  whole  world  about  them  was 
narrative,  so  that  the  painters  and  designers  must  needs  think  in  narrative  terms, 
and  hence  as  illustrators.  The  narrative  features  of  the  other  arts  also  lent  them 
valuable  examples  for  their  tapestries.  Most  of  their  renderings  of  religious  stories 
were  taken  direct  from  the  Mystery  Plays  (cf.  No.  14),  and  some  of  their  scenes 
were  already  familiar  to  them  in  stained  glass  and  church  sculptures. 

Moreover,  narrative  decorations  were  interesting  and  important  to  the  people 
of  the  XVth  century  because  they  had  only  very  limited  resources  for  intellectual 
entertainment.  Books  were  scarce,  but  even  if  plentiful  would  have  been  of  little 
use,  for  very  few  could  read.  The  theatre  for  the  mass  of  the  people  was  limited  to 
occasional  productions  on  church  holidays  of  Mystery  and  Miracle  plays,  and 
even  for  the  great  dukes  these  were  only  meagerly  supplemented  by  court  enter- 
tainers. There  was  no  illustrated  daily  news,  no  moving  pictures,  no  circuses,  no 
menageries,  no  easy  travel  to  offer  ready  recreation.  In  our  distractedly  crowded 
life  today  we  are  apt  to  forget  how  limited  were  the  lives  of  our  ancestors  and  what 
pleasure,  as  a  result,  they  could  get  from  a  woven  story  on  their  walls. 

In  the  second  place,  the  Gothic  designers,  when  they  came  to  draw  their  deco- 
rative illustrations,  because  of  their  inherited  traditions,  naturally  fell  into  a 
technique  adapted  to  the  architectual  forms  of  mural  decoration.  For  all  the  art 
of  the  Middle  Ages  was  the  derivative  of  architecture,  and  at  its  inception  was 
controlled  by  it.  The  original  conception  of  the  graphic  arts  in  this  period  was 
the  delineation  on  a  flat  surface  of  sculpture — sculpture,  moreover,  that  was 
basically  structural,  because  made  as  part  of  a  building.  So  the  painted  figures 
were  heavily  outlined  silhouettes  in  a  few  broad  planes  with  the  poise  and  the 
restraint  essential  to  sculpture.  These  early  statuesque  figures,  familiar  in  the 
primitive  manuscript  illumination  and  stained-glass  windows,  had,  by  the  time 
the  tapestries  reached  their  apogee,  been  modified  by  a  fast-wakening  naturalism. 
But  the  underlying  idea  of  the  silhouette  and  of  the  poised  body  was  not  yet  lost, 
and  so  it  was  natural  for  tapestry  designers  to  meet  these  requirements.  The 
naturalism,  on  the  other  hand,  was  just  becoming  strong  enough  to  make  the  lines 
more  gracefully  flowing  and  the  details  more  varied  and  more  delicate  and  exact  in 
drawing,  so  that  the  very  transitional  form  of  the  art  of  the  time  made  it  especially 
well  adapted  to  a  woven  rendition. 


l8  INTRODUCTION 

In  the  third  place,  the  cartoons,  even  if  they  were  not  quite  right  in  feeling  when 
they  came  from  the  painter's  hand,  would  be  modified  in  the  translation  into  the 
weave  by  the- workmen  themselves;  for  the  weavers  at  that  time  were  respected 
craftsmen  with  sufficient  command  of  design  to  make  their  own  patterns  for  the 
less  important  orders,  and  were  therefore  perfectly  able  to  modify  and  enrich  the 
details  of  the  cartoon  of  even  a  great  painter.  And  no  designer  in  the  one  medium 
of  paint  can  ever  fit  his  theme  to  the  other  medium  of  wool  quite  as  aptly  as  the 
man  who  is  doing  the  weaving  himself. 

Thus  because  the  Gothic  period  happened  to  be  a  time  when  it  was  natural  for 
the  artists  to  make  vivacious  and  decorative  illustrations  in  clear,  flat  silhouettes 
with  rich  details,  most  of  the  Gothic  tapestries  have  some  measure  of  artistic 
greatness,  sufficient  to  put  them  above  all  but  the  very  greatest  pieces  of  later 
times.  Even  when  we  discount  the  additions  that  time  and  our  changed  attitude 
make,  the  beauty  of  softened  and  blended  colors,  the  charm  of  the  unaccustomed 
and  the  quaint,  the  interest  of  the  unfamiliar  costumes,  the  literary  flavor  of  old 
romantic  times — even  discounting  these,  they  are  still  inherently  superior.  To  be 
sure,  they  are  rarely  pretty  and  are  sometimes  frankly  ugly,  but  with  a  tonic 
ugliness  which  possesses  the  deepest  of  all  aesthetic 'merits,  stimulating  vitality. 
They  have  verve,  energy,  a  pungent  vividness  that  sharply  reminds  the  beholder 
that  he  is  alive.  Their  angular  emphatic  silhouettes  and  pure,  highly  saturated, 
abruptly  contrasted  colors  catch  and  hold  the  attention  and  quicken  all  the  vital 
responses  that  are  essential  to  clear  perception  and  full  appreciation.  They  are  a 
standing  refutation  of  the  many  mistaken  theories  that  would  make  the  essence 
of  beauty  consist  merely  in  the  balanced  form  and  symmetry,  or  smooth  perfection 
of  rendition,  or  photographic  accuracy  of  representation.  They  are  a  forceful  and 
convincing  demonstration  that  in  the  last  analysis  beauty  is  the  quality  that 
arouses  the  fullest  realization  of  life. 

Within  the  common  Gothic  character  there  are  clearly  recorded  local  differ- 
ences: the  division  between  the  French  and  the  Flemish,  not  marked  until  the 
middle  of  the  XVth  century,  because  up  to  that  time  the  Franco-Flemish  school 
was  really  one  and  continuous.  It  amalgamated  influences  from  both  regions  and 
absorbed  a  rather  strong  contribution  from  Italy.  The  center  of  activity  was  at 
first  Paris  and  then  at  the  courts  of  the  Burgundian  dukes.  But  after  the  middle 
of  the  century  the  divergence  is  rapid  and  clear.  The  French  is  characterized  by 
greater  simplicity,  clarity,  elegance,  and  delicacy.  Even  the  strong  uprush  of 
realism  was  held  in  check  in  France  by  decorative  sensitiveness.  The  most  char- 
acteristic designs  of  the  time  are  the  millefleurs,  the  finer  being  made  in  Touraine 
(cf.  No.  8),  the  coarser  in  La  Marche.  The  Flemish  decoration,  on  the  other  hand, 
is  sumptuous,  overflowing,  sometimes  confused,  always  energetic,  and  strongly 
varied  in  detail.  Nothing  checks  the  relentless  realism  that  sometimes  runs  even 
to  caricature  and  often  is  fantastic  (cf.  the  punishment  scenes  in  No.  4).  Typical 
of  Flemish  abundance  are  the  cartoons  with  multiple  religious  scenes,  heavy  with 
rich  draperies  and  gorgeous  with  infinite  detail,  yet  not  subordinating  to  theme 


INTRODUCTION  I9 

the  human  Interest  of  many  well-delineated  types  of  character  (cf.  No.  18).  Brussels 
was  the  great  center  for  the  production  of  work  of  this  kind,  but  beautiful  pieces 
were  being  produced  in  almost  every  city  of  the  Lowlands — Bruges,  Tournai,  Arras, 
and  many  more. 

The  German  Gothic  tapestry  is  quite  different  from  both  of  these.  It  was  devel- 
oped almost  entirely  independently,  under  quite  other  conditions.  While  the  French 
and  Flemish  shops  grew  up  under  the  patronage  of  the  great  and  wealthy  nobles, 
and  worked  primarily  for  these  lavish  art-patrons,  in  Germany  the  nobles  were 
impoverished  and  almost  outcast;  there  was  scarcely  a  real  court,  and  all  the 
wealth  lay  in  the  hand  of  the  burghers,  solid,  practical  folk  who  did  not  see  much 
sense  in  art.  So  while  in  France  and  in  the  Lowlands  the  workshops  were  highly 
organized  under  great  entrepreneurs,  and  the  profits  were  liberal,  in  Germany  the 
workshops  were  very  small,  and  many  of  the  pieces  were  not  made  professionally 
at  all,  but  were  the  work  of  nuns  in  the  convents  or  of  ladies  in  their  many  idle 
hours.  Thus  the  industry  that  in  France  and  Flanders  was  definitely  centered  in 
the  great  cities  such  as  Paris  and  Brussels,  in  Germany  was  scattered  through 
many  towns,  primarily,  however,  those  of  south  Germany  and  Switzerland.  And, 
too,  while  the  designs  for  the  French  and  Flemish  pieces  were  specially  made  by 
manuscript  illuminators,  painters,  or  professional  cartoon  designers,  some  of  whom, 
like  Maitre  Philippe  (cf.  Nos.  17-19),  conducted  great  studios,  for  the  German 
pieces  the  weavers  themselves  adapted  the  figures  from  one  of  the  woodcuts  that 
were  the  popular  art  of  the  German  people  or  from  some  book  illustration.  So 
while  the  French  and  Flemish  tapestries  reached  great  heights  of  skill  and  luxury, 
and  really  were  a  great  art,  the  German  tapestry  remained  naive  and  simple  and 
most  of  its  artistic  value  is  the  product  of  that  very  naivete. 

Toward  the  close  of  the  XVth  century  a  change  begins  to  appear  in  the  character 
of  tapestry  design.  More  and  more  often  paintings  are  exactly  reproduced  down 
to  the  last  detail.  At  first  sporadic  products,  the  reproductions  of  the  work  of  such 
masters  as  Roger  Van  der  Weyden  and  Bernard  Van  Orley  become  more  and 
more  frequent  until  by  the  end  of  the  first  quarter  of  the  XVIth  century  they  are 
a  commonplace.  Yet  even  though  tapestry  is  no  longer  entirely  true  to  itself,  these 
tapestry  paintings  are  nevertheless  beautiful  and  fit.  A  woven  painting  has  not 
yet  become  an  anomaly  because  painting  in  Northern  Europe  is  still  narrative 
and  decorative.  There  are  still  poise  and  restraint  and  clear  flat  silhouette  and  rich 
detail. 

It  was  not  until  tapestry  plunged  full  into  the  tide  of  the  Italian  Renaissance 
that  it  entirely  lost  its  Gothic  merits.  But  when,  beginning  in  1 515  with  the  arrival 
of  Raphael's  cartoons  for  the  Pope's  Apostle  series,  the  weavers  of  the  North  began 
to  depend  more  and  more  for  their  designs  on  the  painters  of  the  South  and  on 
painters  trained  in  the  South,  the  character  of  tapestry  completely  changed.  True, 
tapestry  in  the  old  style  was  still  made  for  two  decades,  but  in  diminishing  num- 
bers. The  Renaissance  had  the  field.  In  place  of  endlessly  varied  detail,  the  designers 
sought  for  instantly  impressive  effects,  and  these  are  of  necessity  obvious.  Every- 


20  INTRODUCTION 

thing  grew  larger,  coarser,  more  insistent  on  attention.  Figures  were  monumental, 
floreation  bold  and  strong,  architecture  massive.  Even  the  verdures  developed  a 
new  manner;  great  scrolling  acanthus-leaves  and  exotic  birds  (cf.  No.  23)  took 
the  place  of  the  delicate  field  flowers  and  pigeons  and  songsters.  Drama  took  the 
place  of  narrative.  On  many  pieces  metal  thread  was  lavished  in  abundance.  The 
whole  flagrant  richness  of  the  newly  modern  world  was  called  into  play. 

For  the  first  time  also  with  Renaissance  tapestry,  it  becomes  relevant  to  ask. 
Do  they  look  like  the  scenes  they  depict? — for  realism  was  in  the  full  tide  of  its 
power.  A  hundred  and  fifty  years  before  the  Renaissance  realism  had  begun  to 
develop,  inspired  by  the  naturalism  of  Aristotle,  whose  influence  had  gradually 
filtered  down  from  the  schools  to  the  people,  and  throughout  the  XlVth  and  early 
XVth  century  it  had  been  slowly  growing.  The  hunting  tapestries  of  the  first  part  of 
the  XVth  century  are  early  examples  of  it.  But  the  Gothic  realism  was  an  attempt 
to  convey  the  impression  of  the  familiar  incidents  of  life,  to  get  expressive  gestures, 
to  record  characteristic  bits  of  portraiture,  whether  of  people  or  things  or  episodes, 
so  that  a  Gothic  tapestry  can  be  adjudged  naturalistically  successful  if  it  carries 
strongly  the  spirit  and  effect  of  a  situation  regardless  of  whether  the  drawing  is 
quite  true  or  not  (cf.  No.  2).  Renaissance  realism,  on  the  other  hand,  is  not  satisfied 
with  the  impression,  but  strives  for  the  fact.  It  wishes  to  depict  not  only  the  world 
as  one  sees  it,  but  as  one  knows  it  to  be — knows  it,  moreover,  after  long  and  careful 
study.  So  in  all  Renaissance  graphic  art  correct  anatomy  becomes  of  importance, 
solid  modeling  is  essential,  and  all  details  must  be  specific. 

Yet,  though  tapestry  in  the  Renaissance  was  no  longer  illustrative  in  the  old 
sense,  it  still  was  decoratively  fine;  for  the  painting  of  Italy  was  founded  on  a 
mural  art,  and  the  decorative  traditions  still  held  true.  Outlines  are  still  clear  and 
expressive.  There  was  respect  for  architectural  structure,  and  details,  if  less  com- 
plex and  sensitive,  are  still  rich  and  full.  Color,  too,  is  still  strong  and  pure,  though 
the  key  is  heightened  somewhat  and  the  number  of  tones  increased.  Moreover,  the 
Renaissance  introduced  two  important  new  resources,  the  wide  border  and  the 
grotesque.  Hitherto  the  border  had  been  a  narrow  floral  garland,  a  minor  adjunct 
easily  omitted.  Now  it  became  of  major  importance,  always  essential  to  the  beauty 
of  the  piece,  often  the  most  beautiful  part  of  it,  designed  with  great  resource  and 
frequently  interwoven  with  gold  and  silver.  The  grotesque,  from  being  originally 
a  border  decoration,  soon  spread  itself  over  the  whole  field  (cf.  No.  s6)y  mingling 
with  amusing  incongruity  but  with  decorative  consistency  goats  and  fair  ladies, 
trellis,  flowers,  and  heraldic  devices.  What  the  Renaissance  lacked  in  subtlety  it 
made  up  in  abundance. 

During  the  Renaissance  the  tapestry  industry  was  dominated  by  the  Flemish  cities, 
with  Brussels  at  the  head.  She  had  the  greatest  looms,  great  both  for  the  exceeding 
skill  of  the  workers  and  for  the  enormous  quantity  of  the  production.  Some  work- 
shops, of  which  the  most  famous  was  that  of  the  Pannemaker  family,  specialized 
in  exquisitely  fine  work  rendered  in  the  richest  materials.  Of  this  class,  the  most 
typical  examples  are  the  minature  religious  tapestries  in  silk  and  metal  thread, 


INTRODUCTION  21 

in  which  all  the  perfection  of  a  painting  was  united  with  the  sumptuousness  of  a 
most  extravagant  textile  (cf.  No.  25).  But  sometimes  full-sized  wall-hangings  too 
were  done  with  the  same  perfection  and  elaboration  (cf.  Nos.  23-25).  Other  shops 
sacrificed  the  perfection  of  workmanship  to  a  large  output,  but  even  in  the  most 
commercially  organized  houses  the  weavers  of  Flanders  in  the  XVIth  century  were 
able  and  conscientious  craftsmen. 

These  same  Flemish  workmen  were  called  to  different  countries  in  Europe  to 
establish  local  looms.  So  Italy  had  several  small  temporary  ateliers  at  this  period, 
as  did  England  also  (cf.  No.  32).  But  though  these  shops  were  in  Italy  and  England, 
they  were  still  predominantly  Flemish.  The  character  of  local  decoration  and  local 
demand  influenced  the  design  somewhat,  but  fundamentally  the  products  both  in 
cartoon  and  in  weave  were  still  those  of  the  mother  country.  In  France,  however, 
the  Flemish  workmen  were  made  the  tools  of  the  beginning  of  a  new  national 
revival  of  the  art.  A  group  of  weavers  was  called  to  Fontainebleau,  where,  under 
the  extravagant  patronage  of  Francis  I,  the  French  Renaissance  was  taking  form. 
These  Flemings,  weaving  designs  made  by  Italians,  nevertheless  created  decorative 
textiles  that  are  typically  French  in  spirit  (cf.  No.  37).  France  alone  had  a  strong 
enough  artistic  character  to  refashion  the  conventions  of  Italy  and  the  technique 
of  Flanders  to  a  national  idiom. 

In  the  next  century  this  revival  of  the  art  which  survived  at  Fontainebleau 
barely  fifty  years  was  carried  on  in  several  ateliers  at  Paris.  The  workmen  were 
still  predominantly  Flemish,  but  again  their  work  was  unmistakably  French  (cf. 
No.  38).  In  Trinity  Hospital  looms  had  been  maintained  since  the  middle  of  the 
XVIth  century.  In  the  gallery  of  the  Louvre  looms  were  set  up  about  1607.  And 
the  third  and  most  important  shop  was  established  by  Marc  de  Comans  and 
Francois  de  la  Planche  at  the  invitation  of  the  king.  This  was  most  important, 
because  it  later  was  moved  to  the  Bievre  River,  where  the  Gobelins  family  had  its 
old  dye-works,  and  it  eventually  became  the  great  state  manufactory. 

Thereafter  for  the  next  two  centuries  the  looms  of  Flanders  and  France  worked 
in  competition.  Now  one,  now  the  other  took  precedence,  but  France  had  a  slowly 
increasing  superiority  that  by  the  middle  of  the  XVIIIth  century  put  her  two  royal 
looms,  the  Gobelin  and  Beauvais,  definitely  in  the  forefront  of  the  industry. 

For  cartoons  the  looms  of  the  two  countries  called  on  the  great  painters  of  the 
time,  often  requisitioning  the  work  of  the  same  painters,  and  sometimes  even 
using  the  very  same  designs.  Thus  Van  der  Meulen  worked  both  for  Brussels 
manufacturers  (cf.  Nos.  S3-5^)  and  for  the  French  state  looms  (cf.  No.  52),  and 
the  Gobelin  adapted  to  its  uses  the  old  Lucas  Months  that  had  originated  in 
Flanders  (cf.  Nos.  57,  58.) 

But  though  they  did  thus  parallel  each  other  in  cartoons,  the  finished  tapestries 
nevertheless  retained  their  national  differences.  As  in  the  Gothic  period,  the 
Flemish  tapestries  in  all  respects  showed  a  tendency  to  somewhat  overdo.  Their 
figures  were  larger,  their  borders  crushed  fuller  of  flowers  and  fruit,  their  verdures 
heavier,  their  grotesques  more  heterogeneous,  their  metal  threads  solider.  Their 


22  INTRODUCTION 

abundance  was  rich  and  decorative,  but  lacking  in  refinement  and  grace.  The 
French,  on  the  other  hand,  kept  always  a  certain  detachment  and  restraint  that 
made  for  clarity  and  often  delicacy.  When  the  Baroque  taste  demanded  huge 
active  figures,  the  French  still  kept  theirs  well  within  the  frame.  Their  borders 
were  always  spaced  and  usually  more  abstract.  The  verdures  of  Aubusson  can  be 
distinguished  from  those  of  Audenarde  by  the  fewer  leaves,  the  lighter  massing, 
the  more  dispersed  lights  and  shades.  The  grotesques  of  France,  especially  in  the 
XVIIIth  century,  often  controlled  the  random  fancy  popularized  among  the  Flemish 
weavers  by  introducing  a  central  idea,  a  goddess  above  whom  they  could  group 
the  proper  attributes  (cf.  No.  36)^  or  a  court  fete  (cf.  No.  59).  And  when  the 
French  used  metal  thread  it  was  to  enrich  a  limited  space  rather  than  to  weight 
a  whole  tapestry.  In  a  way  the  opulence  of  the  Flemish  was  better  adapted  to 
the  medium.  Certainly  it  produced  some  very  beautiful  tapestries.  But  the  refine- 
ment of  the  French  is  a  little  more  sympathetic  to  an  overcivilized  age. 

With  the  accession  of  Louis  XV,  tapestry  joined  the  other  textile  arts  and 
painting  in  following  furniture  styles.  Thereafter,  until  the  advent  of  machinery 
put  an  end  to  tapestry  as  a  significant  art,  the  cabinetmaker  led  all  the  other 
decorators.  Small  pieces  with  small  designs,  light  colors,  delicate  floral  ornaments, 
and  the  reigning  temporary  fad — now  the  Chinese  taste  (cf.  No.  71),  now  the 
pastoral  (cf.  No.  68)— occupied  the  attention  of  the  cartoonmakers,  so  that  the  chief 
occupations  of  the  court  beauties  of  each  successive  decade  can  be  read  in  the 
tapestries. 

During  this  time  France  was  dictating  the  fashions  of  all  the  Western  World, 
so  other  countries  were  eager  not  only  to  have  her  tapestries,  but  to  have  her 
workmen  weave  for  them  in  their  own  capitals.  Accordingly,  the  royal  family  of 
Russia,  always  foreign  in  its  tastes,  sent  for  a  group  of  weavers  to  set  up  a  royal 
Russian  tapestry  works.  Similarly,  Spain  sent  for  a  Frenchman  to  direct  her 
principal  looms,  those  at  Santa  Barbara  and  Madrid,  which  for  a  decade  or  so 
had  been  running  under  a  Fleming. 

And  meanwhile  tapestry  was  steadily  becoming  more  and  more  another  form  of 
painting.  Until  the  middle  of  the  XVIIIth  century  it  remains  primarily  illustrative. 
The  Renaissance  designers  continued  to  tell  historical  and  biblical  stories  and  to 
fashion  the  designs  in  the  service  of  the  tale  they  had  to  tell.  With  the  influence 
of  Rubens  and  his  school  (cf.  No.  44),  the  story  becomes  chiefly  the  excuse  for 
the  composition;  but  the  story  is  nevertheless  still  there  and  adequately  pre- 
sented. The  artists  of  Louis  XIV,  when  called  upon  to  celebrate  their  king  in 
tapestry,  respected  this  quality  of  the  art  by  depicting  his  history  and  his  military 
exploits  (cf.  No.  52).  But  illustration  already  begins  to  run  thin  in  the  series  of 
the  royal  residences  done  by  the  Gobelins  during  his  reign,  and  with  the  style  of 
his  successor  it  runs  out  almost  altogether.  If  Boucher  paints  the  series  of  the 
Loves  oj  the  Gods  it  is  not  for  the  sake  of  the  mythology,  but  for  the  rosy  flesh 
and  floating  drapes,  and  Fragonard  does  not  even  bother  to  think  of  an  excuse, 
but  makes  his  languid  nudes  simply  bathers  (cf.  No.  69).  So  when  Louis  XV  is 


INTRODUCTION  23 

to  be  celebrated  by  his  weavers  the  designers  make  one  effort  to  invent  a  story  by 
depicting  his  hunts,  and  then  abandon  episode  and  substitute  portraiture  (cf. 
No.  64). 

Throughout  most  of  the  Renaissance,  tapestry  remained  decorative  as  a  mural 
painting  is  decorative,  but  in  the  XVIIth  century,  with  the  degeneration  of  all 
architectual  feeling,  tapestry  lost  entirely  its  architectual  character.  It  was  still 
decorative — it  was  decorative  as  the  painting  of  the  time  was.  The  tapestries  ofthe 
XVIIth  century  are  giant  easel  paintings,  and  of  the  XVIIIth  century  woven  panel 
paintings. 

As  to  the  textile  quality,  during  the  XVIIth  century  the  very  scale  of  the  pieces 
kept  them  somewhat  true  to  it.  The  large  figures,  heavy  foliage,  and  big  floral 
ornaments  can  fall  successfully  into  wide,  soft  folds.  But  most  of  the  tapestry  of 
the  XVIIIth  century  must  be  stretched  and  set  in  panels  or  frames.  That  they  are 
woven  is  incidental,  a  fact  to  call  forth  wonder  for  the  skill  of  the  workmen,  both 
of  the  dyers  who  perfected  the  numberless  slight  gradations  of  delicate  tones  and 
kept  them  constant,  and  of  the  almost  unbelievably  deft  weavers  who  could  ply 
the  shuttle  so  finely  and  exactly  and  grade  these  delicate  tones  to  reproduce  soft 
modeled  flesh,  fluttering  draperies,  billowing  clouds,  spraying  fountains,  and  the 
sheen  and  folds  of  different  materials.  But  that  they  are  woven  is  scarcely  a  fact 
to  be  considered  in  the  artistic  estimate.  The  only  advantage  of  the  woven  decora- 
tions over  the  painted  panel  is  that  they  present  a  softer  surface  to  relieve  the  cold 
glitter  of  rooms.  Otherwise  as  paintings  they  stand  or  fall.  Even  the  border  has 
usually  been  reduced  to  a  simulated  wood  or  stucco  frame. 

During  this  gradual  change  through  five  hundred  years  in  the  artistic  qualities 
of  tapestry  the  technical  tricks  of  the  weavers  underwent  corresponding  modifica- 
tion. In  the  Gothic  period  the  drawing  depended  primarily  upon  a  strong  dark 
outline,  black  or  brown,  that  was  unbroken,  and  that  was  especially  important 
whether  the  design  was  affiliated  rather  with  panel  painting  (cf.  No.  i)  or  with 
the  more  graphic  miniature  illustration  (cf.  No.  5).  Even  the  lesser  accessories 
were  all  drawn  in  clear  outline.  Within  a  given  color  area,  transitions  from  tone  to 
tone  were  made  by  hatchings,  little  bars  of  irregular  length  of  one  of  the  shades 
that  fitted  into  alternate  bars  of  the  other  shade,  like  the  teeth  of  two  combs  inter- 
locked. And  for  shadows  and  emphasis  of  certain  outlines,  some  of  the  Gothic 
weavers  had  a  very  clever  trick  of  dropping  stitches  (cf.  No.  i),  so  that  a  series 
of  small  holes  in  the  fabric  takes  the  place  of  a  dark  line.  During  the  Renaissance 
the  outline  becomes  much  narrower,  and  is  used  only  for  the  major  figures,  a 
device  that  sometimes  makes  the  figures  look  as  if  they  had  been  cut  out  and 
applied  to  the  design.  Hatching,  if  used  at  all,  is  much  finer  than  in  the  earlier 
usage,  consisting  now  of  only  single  lines  of  one  color  shading  into  the  next.  In 
the  work  of  Fontainbleau  (cf.  Nos.  36, 37),  the  dotted  series  of  holes  between  colors 
is  still  used  to  give  a  subordinate  outline.  During  the  XVIIth  century  hatching  is 
scarcely  used  at  all,  and  the  outline  has  practically  disappeared.  During  the 
XVIIIth  century  the  French  weavers  perfected  a  trick  which  obviated  any  break 


24  INTRODUCTION 

in  the  weave  where  the  color  changes,  thus  enabling  tapestry  to  approximate  even 
closer  to  painting  effects. 

To  the  weavers  who  adjusted  these  tricks  to  the  varying  demands  of  the  cartoons, 
and  so  translated  painted  patterns  in  a  woven  fabric,  is  due  quite  as  much  credit 
for  the  finished  work  of  art  as  to  the  painters  who  first  made  the  design.  Famous 
painters  did  prepare  tapestry  designs.  Aside  from  the  masters  of  the  Middle  Ages 
to  whom  tapestries  are  attributed,  we  have  positive  evidence  that,  among  others, 
Jacques  Daret,  Roger  Van  der  Weyden,  Raphael,  Giulio  Romano  (cf.  Nos.  23-25) 
Le  Brun,  Rubens,  Coypel  (cf.  Nos.  62,  63),  Boucher  {cf.  Nos.  67,  68),  Watteau, 
Fragonard  (cf.  No.  69),  and  Vernet  (cf.  No.  70),  all  worked  on  tapestry  designs. 
The  master  weavers  who  could  transpose  their  designs  deserve  to  rank  with 
them  in  honor. 

Yet  we  know  relatively  little  of  these  master  weavers.  Many  names  of  tapicers 
appear  in  tax-lists  and  other  documents,  but  not  until  the  XVIIIth  century  do  the 
names  often  represent  to  us  definite  personalities,  and  until  then  we  can  only 
occasionally  credit  a  man  with  his  surviving  work.  From  the  long  lists  of  names 
and  the  great  numbers  of  remaining  tapestries  a  few  only  can  be  connected.  Among 
the  greatest  of  these  is  Nicolas  Bataille,  of  Paris,  who  wove  the  famous  set  of  the 
Apocalypse  now  in  the  Cathedral  of  Angers;  Pasquier  Grenier,  of  Tournai,  to 
whom  the  Wars  of  Troy  and  related  sets  can  be  accredited  (cf.  No.  7),  but  who 
apparently  was  an  entrepreneur  rather  than  a  weaver;  Pieter  Van  Aelst,  who  was 
so  renowned  that  the  cartoons  of  Raphael  were  first  entrusted  to  him;  William- 
Pannemaker,  another  Brussels  man,who  had  supreme  taste  and  skill,  and  his  relative 
Pierre,  almost  as  skilful;  Marc  Comans  and  Frangois  de  la  Planche,  the  Flemings 
who  set  up  the  looms  in  Paris  that  developed  into  the  Gobelins  (cf.  No.  38);  Jean 
Lef6bvre,  who  worked  first  in  the  gallery  of  the  Louvre  and  then  had  his  studio 
in  the  Gobelins  (cf.  Nos.  39, 40);  the  Van  der  Beurchts,of  Brussels  (cf.  Nos.  42,  i>^G), 
and  Leyniers  (cf.  Nos.  26,  27),  and  Cozette,  most  famous  weaver  of  the  Gobelins. 
Such  men  as  these,  and  many  more  whose  names  are  lost  or  are  neglected  because 
we  do  not  know  their  work,  were  in  their  medium  as  important  artists  as  the  painters 
whose  designs  they  followed. 

With  the  passing  of  such  master  craftsmen  the  art  of  tapestry  died.  When  men 
must  compete  with  machines  their  work  is  no  more  respected,  and  so  tapestry  is 
no  longer  the  natural  medium  of  expression  for  the  culture  of  the  times.  Tapestries 
are  still  being  made,  but  there  is  no  genuine  vitality  in  the  art  and  little  merit 
in  its  product.  It  exists  today  only  as  an  exhausted  and  irrelevant  persistence 
from  the  past,  and,  as  a  fine  art,  doomed  to  failure  and  ultimate  extinction. 

P.  A. 


The  Annunciation 


No.  I 


nmm 


The  Chase 


No.  2 


CATALOGUE 

Abbreviations:  H.  {Height);  W.  {Width);  ft.  (Feet);  in.  {inches), 

"Right'*  &  "Left;*  refer  to  right  ^  left 

of  the  spectator 


FRANCO-FLEMISH,  POSSIBLY  ARRAS, 
BEGINNING  OF  XV  OR  END  OF  XIV  CENTURY 

THE  ANNUNCIATION:  The  Virgin,  in  a  blue  robe  lined  with  red,  is  seated  before  a 
reading-desk  in  a  white  marble  portico  with  a  tile  floor.  Behind  her  is  a  red  and  metal 
gold  brocade.  The  lily  is  in  a  majolica  jar.  The  angel,  in  a  green  robe  with  yellow  high 
lights  lined  with  red,  has  alighted  in  a  garden  without.  In  the  sky,  God  the  Father  holding 
the  globe  and  two  angels  bearing  a  shield. 

The  treatment  of  the  sky  in  two-toned  blue  and  white  striations,  as  well  as  the 
conventional  landscape  without  perspective,  with  small  oak  and  laurel  trees,  is 
characteristic  of  a  number  of  tapestries  of  the  opening  years  of  the  XVth  century. 
Most  of  them  depicted  hunting  scenes.  But  there  was  one  famous  religious  piece, 
the  Passion  of  the  Cathedral  of  Saragossa.  In  the  drawing  of  the  figures  and  some  of 
the  details  the  piece  is  closely  related  to  the  paintings  of  that  Paris  school  of  which 
Jean  Malouel  is  the  most  famous  member.  The  work  is  by  no  means  by  Malouel, 
but  it  is  similar  to  that  of  one  of  his  lesser  contemporaries,  whose  only  known  sur- 
viving work  is  a  set  of  six  panels  painted  on  both  sides,  two  of  which  are  in  the 
Cuvellier  Collection  at  Niort  and  the  others  in  the  Mayer  Van  der  Bergh  Collec- 
tion at  Antwerp.  The  very  primitively  rendered  Eternal  Father  is  almost  identical 
with  the  one  that  appears  in  several  of  the  panels;  the  roughly  indicated  shaggy 
grass  is  the  same,  the  rather  unusual  angle  of  the  angel's  wings  recurs  in  the  Cuvellier 
Annunciation,  as  does  the  suspended  poise  of  the  Virgin's  attitude.  The  Virgin's 
reading-desk,  too,  is  almost  identical,  though  shown  in  the  panel  at  the  other  side  of 
the  scene.  The  long,  slim-fingered  hands  and  the  pointed  nose  and  chin  of  the  Virgin 
are  characteristic  of  the  school. 

The  tiles  in  the  portico,  so  carefully  rendered,  are  of  interest  because  they  are  very 
similar  to  the  earliest-known  tile  floor  still  in  position — that  of  the  Caracciolo  Chapel 
in  Naples.  Some  of  the  same  patterns  are  repeated,  notably  that  of  the  Virgin's 
initial  and  the  star,  which  is  more  crudely  rendered.  The  colors,  too,  are  approxi- 
mately the  same,  the  brown  being  a  fair  rendering  of  the  manganese  purple  of  the 
chapel  tiles.  The  majolica  vase  is  also  interesting  as  illustrating  a  type  of  which  few 
intact  examples  are  left. 

The  piece  maintains  a  high  level  of  aesthetic  expression.  The  religious  emotion  Is 
intensely  felt  and  is  adequately  conveyed  in  the  wistful  sadness  of  the  Virgin's  face 
and  the  expectant  suspense  of  her  poised  body.  The  portico  seems  removed  from 
reality  and  flooded  by  a  direct  heavenly  light,  in  its  shining  whiteness  contrasting 


Wool,  Silk,  Gold. 
H.  1 1  //.  4  in. 
w.  9//.  6  in. 


Exhibited: 

Chicago  Art  Institute, 

Gothic  Exhibition,  1921 . 


26 


CATALOGUE 


Lent  by      with  the  deep  blue-green  background.  This  tapestry  by  virtue  of  its  intense  and 
W.  French  ^      elevated  feeling,  purified  by  aesthetic  calm  and  by  its  exceptional  decorative  vivid- 
Company.      ness,  ranks  with  the  very  great  masterpieces  of  the  graphic  arts. 


Vool  and  Gold. 

H.  5//.  5  in. 

w.  5//.  II  in. 


Exhibited: 

South  Kensington 

Museum,  French- 

lUsh  Retrospective 

bition  of  Textiles, 

1921. 

Illustrated: 

•a  Renaissance  de 

Wtjrangais,  1 921, 

p.  104; 

rlington,  vol.  38, 

opp.  p.  171. 

DeMotte, 

LesTapis  series 

gothiques, 

Deuxieme  Serie. 


Lent  by 
Demotte. 


FRANCO-FLEMISH,  EARLY  XV  CENTURY 

THE  CHASE:  A  man  in  a  long  dark-blue  coat  and  high  red  hat  and  a  lady  in  a  brown 
brocade  dress  and  ermine  turban  watch  a  dog  in  leather  armor  attack  a  bear.  A  landscape 
with  trees  and  flowers  is  indicated  without  perspective  and  a  castle  in  simple  outline  is 
projected  against  a  blue  and  white  striated  sky. 

This  tapestry  is  an  important  example  of  a  small  group  of  hunting  scenes  of  the 
early  XVth  century.  It  is  closely  related  in  style  to  the  famous  pair  of  large  hunting 
tapestries  in  the  collection  of  the  Duke  of  Devonshire.  It  is  not  definitely  known 
where  any  of  these  pieces  were  woven,  but  Arras  is  taken  as  a  safe  assumption,  as 
that  was  the  center  of  weaving  at  the  time,  and  these  tapestries  are  the  finest 
production  known  of  the  period. 

The  very  simple  figures  sharply  silhouetted  against  the  contrasting  ground  have  a 
decidedly  architectural  quality,  perfectly  adapted  to  mural  decoration.  Yet  the 
scene  seems  very  natural  and  the  persons  have  marked  and  attractive  personalities. 

These  exceedingly  rare  pieces  mark  the  great  wave  of  naturalism  that  began 
sweeping  over  Europe  about  1350  and  they  exemplify  strikingly  one  of  the  finest 
qualities  of  the  primitive — the  impressive  universality  and  objectivity  that  come 
from  the  freshness  of  the  artist's  vision.  Looking  straight  at  the  thing  itself,  free 
from  all  the  presuppositions  that  come  from  an  inherited  convention,  the  drafts- 
man saw  the  essentials  and  recorded  them  directly  without  any  confusing  elabora- 
tion of  technique.  He  was  completely  absorbed  by  the  unsolved  problems  of  the 
task,  too  occupied  with  the  difficulty  of  rendering  the  central  outstanding  features 
of  the  scene  to  be  diverted  by  personal  affectations.  His  realization  thus  became 
vivid  and  intimate,  his  rendition  achieved  a  singularity  and  epic  force  never  again 
to  be  found  in  tapestry. 

This  is  one  of  the  few  tapestries  that  have  been  improved  by  age.  Time  has  spread 
over  it  a  slight  gray  bloom  that  seems  to  remove  it  from  the  actual  world,  giving  it 
the  isolation  that  is  so  important  a  factor  in  aesthetic  effect;  yet  the  depth  and 
strength  of  the  colors  have  not  been  weakened,  for  we  interpret  the  grayness  as  a 
fine  veil  through  which  the  colors  shine  with  their  original  purity. 


3 

Wool. 
H.  15//.  7  in. 
IV.  14//.  7  in. 


FLANDERS,  MIDDLE  XV  CENTURY 

THE  ANNUNCIATION,  THE  NATIVITY,  AND  THE  ANNOUNCEMENT 
TO  THE  SHEPHERDS :  At  the  left  in  a  Gothic  chapel  the  Annunciation.  The  Virgin, 
in  a  richly  jeweled  and  brocaded  robe,  reads  the  Holy  Book.  The  angel  in  rich  robes 
kneels  before  her.  The  lilies  are  in  a  dinanderie  vase.  Through  the  open  door  a  bit  oj 


The  Annunciation,  The  Nativity,  and  The  Announcement  to  the  Shepherds 


No.    3 


CATALOGUE  27 

landscape  is  seen,  and  in  a  room  beyond  the  chapel  two  women  sit  reading.  The  Nativity^ 
at  the  right,  is  under  a  pent  roof.  The  Virgin,  Joseph,  and  Saint  Elizabeth  kneel  in 
adoration  about  the  Holy  Babe,  who  lies  on  the  flower-strewn  grass.  John  kneels  in  front 
of  his  mother,  and  in  the  foreground  an  angel  also  worships.  Above  and  beyond  the 
stable  the  three  shepherds  sit  tending  their  flocks,  and  an  angel  bearing  the  announcement 
inscribed  on  a  scroll  flutters  down  to  them  from  Heaven.  Oak-trees,  rose-vines,  and 
blossoming  orange-trees  in  the  grass. 

This  tapestry  belongs  to  a  small  and  very  interesting  group,  all  evidently  the  work 
of  one  designer.  The  three  famous  Conversations  Galantes  (long  erroneously  called  the 
Baillee  des  Roses)  in  the  Metropolitan  Museum  are  by  the  same  man,  as  are  the  four 
panels  of  the  History  of  Lohengrin  in  Saint  Catherine's  Church,  Cracow,  the  fifth 
fragmentary  panel  of  the  series  being  in  the  Musee  Industrielle,  Cracow.  A  fragment 
from  the  same  designer  showing  a  party  of  hunters  is  in  the  Church  of  Notre  Dame 
de  Saumur  de  Nantilly,  and  another  fragment  depicting  a  combat  is  in  the  Musee 
des  Arts  Decoratifs.  Three  small  fragments — one  with  a  single  figure  of  a  young  man 
with  a  swan,  like  the  Metropolitan  pieces,  on  a  striped  ground,  another  showing  a 
king  reading  in  a  portico  very  similar  to  the  portico  of  the  Annunciation,  and  the 
third  showing  a  group  of  people  centered  about  a  king — were  in  the  Heilbronner 
Collection. 

Schmitz  points  out*  a  connection  between  the  three  Metropolitan  pieces  and  the 
series  of  seven  pieces  depicting  the  life  of  Saint  Peter  in  the  Beauvais  Cathedral,  with 
an  eighth  piece  in  the  Cluny  Musee,  and  it  is  quite  evident  that  the  cartoons  are  the 
work  of  the  same  man.  But  whereas  the  other  pieces  all  have  the  same  character- 
istics in  the  weaving,  this  series  shows  a  somewhat  different  technique  in  such 
details  as  the  outline  and  the  hatchings,  so  that  one  must  assume  they  were  woven 
on  another  loom. 

Fortunately,  there  is  documentary  information  on  one  set  of  the  type  that  enables 
us  to  say  definitely  where  and  when  the  whole  group  was  made.  The  Lohengrin  set 
was  ordered  by  Philip  the  Good  from  the  first  Grenier  of  Tournai  in  1462.  There 
can  be  no  reasonable  doubt  that  the  set  in  Saint  Catherine's  Church  is  the  same,  for 
in  this  set  the  knight  is  quite  apparently  modeled  after  Duke  Philip  himself,  judging 
from  the  portraits  of  him  in  both  the  Romance  of  Gerard  de  Rousillon  (Vienna  Hof- 
bibliotheque)  and  in  the  History  of  Haynaut  (Bibliotheque  Royale,  Brussels). 

Schmitz  asserts  that  it  is  almost  certainly  useless  to  seek  the  author  of  these 
cartoons  among  contemporary  painters,  as  they  are  probably  the  work  of  a  profes- 
sional cartoon  painter,  of  which  the  Dukes  of  Burgundy  kept  several  in  their 
service — and  this  is  probably  true.  But  artists  were  not  as  specialized  then  as  they 
are  now,  and  even  a  professional  tapestry  designer  might  very  well  on  occasion  turn 
his  hand  to  illustrating  a  manuscript  or  making  a  sketch  for  an  enamel,  so  that  it  is 
not  impossible  that  further  research  in  the  other  contemporary  arts  may  bring  to 
light  more  information  about  this  marked  personality  who  created  so  individual  a 
style. 

*Schmitz,  Bild-Teppiche,  ps  i86i 


28 


CATALOGUE 


Lent  by 
'jeen  Brothers. 


This  tapestry  is  exceedingly  interesting,  not  only  for  its  marked  style  of  drawing 
and  its  quaint  charm,  but  for  the  direct  sincerity  of  the  presentation  and  the  bril- 
liant and  rather  unaccustomed  range  of  colors. 


4 

^ool  and  Silk. 

H.  8  //.  4  in. 

N.  loft.  4  in. 


nerly  in  Skipton 
Castle,  Ireland. 
Exhibited: 
igo  Art  Institute, 
Exhibition,  19214 


Lent  by 

W.  French  ^ 

Company. 


FLANDERS,  MIDDLE  XV  CENTURY 

SCENES  FROM  THE  ROMAN  DE  LA  ROSE:  This  piece  illustrates  one  of  the 
most  popular  romances  of  the  Middle  Ages,  the  Romance  of  the  Rose,  the  first  part 
of  which  was  written  in  1337  by  Guillaume  de  Lorris,  the  second  part  in  1378  <^j  Jean  de 
Meung,  and  translated  into  English  by  Chaucer.  The  culminating  scenes  are  represented. 
Jealousy  has  imprisoned  Bel  Acceuil  in  a  tower  because  he  helped  the  Lover  see  the 
Rose  after  Jealousy  had  forbidden  it.  The  Lover  calls  all  his  followers.  Frankness, 
Honor,  Riches,  Nobility  of  Heart,  Leisure,  Beauty,  Courage,  Kindness,  Pity,  and  a 
host  of  others,  to  aid  him  in  rescuing  the  prisoner.  In  the  course  of  the  struggle  Scandal, 
one  of  Jealousy's  henchmen,  is  trapped  by  two  of  the  Lover  s  followers  posing  as 
Pilgrims,  who  cut  his  throat  and  cut  out  his  tongue.  With  the  aid  of  Venus,  the  Lover 
finally  wins. 

The  piece  is  very  close  in  drawing  to  the  illustrations  of  the  Master  of  the  Golden 
Fleece,*  whom  Lindner  has  identified  as  Philip  de  Mazarolles.  The  long  bony, 
egg-shaped  heads  that  look  as  if  the  necks  were  attached  as  an  afterthought,  the 
shoe-button  eyes,  flat  mouths,  and  peaked  noses  all  occur  in  his  many  illustrations. 
Characteristic  of  him,  too,  are  the  crowded  grouping  of  the  scene  and  the  great 
care  in  presenting  the  accessories,  every  gown  being  an  individual  design,  whereas 
many  of  his  contemporary  illustrators  contented  themselves  with  rendering  the 
general  style  without  variations.  The  conventional  trees  are  probably  the  weaver's 
interpolations.  The  top  of  the  tapestry  being  gone,  there  is  no  possibility  of  knowing 
whether  his  customary  architectural  background  was  included  or  not. 

The  tapestry  is  interesting,  not  only  because  it  is  quaint,  but  because  it  is  a 
vivid  illustration  of  the  spirit  of  the  time — -virile,  cruel,  yet  self-consciously 
moralistic. 


Wool. 
H.  10//.  9  in. 
-^ift'  SY^in. 


FLANDERS,  MIDDLE  XV  CENTURY 

THE  VINTAGE:  This  piece  was  probably  originally  one  of  a  series  of  the  Months, 
representing  September.  Groups  of  lords  and  ladies  have  strolled  down  from  the  castle 
in  the  background  to  watch  the  peasants  gathering  and  pressing  the  grapes. 

The  costumes  and  the  drawing  indicate  that  the  piece  was  made  in  Burgundy  at 
the  time  of  Philip  the  Good.  In  fact,  it  is  so  close  to  the  work  of  one  of  the  most 
prolific  of  the  illustrators  who  worked  for  Phihp  the  Good  that  it  is  safe  to  assume 
that  the  original  drawing  for  the  cartoons  was  his  work.  In  the  pungency  of  the 

*  Lindner,  Der  Breslauer  Fro  is  s  art. 


CATALOGUE 


29 


illustration  and  the  vivacity  of  the  episodes  as  well  as  in  numerous  details  it 
follows  closely  the  characteristics  of  Loysot  Lyedet.  Here  are  the  same  strong- 
featured  faces  with  large  prominent  square  mouths,  the  same  exaggeratedly  long 
and  thin  legs  with  suddenly  bulging  calves  on  the  men,  the  same  rapidly  sketched 
flat  hands,  and  the  same  attitudes.  The  very  exact  drawing  of  the  bunches  of 
grapes  parallels  the  exactness  with  which  he  renders  the  household  utensils  in  his 
indoor  scenes,  and  the  dogs,  while  they  are  of  types  familiar  in  all  the  illustrations 
of  the  time,  have  the  decided  personalities  and  alert  manner  that  he  seemed  to 
take  particular  pleasure  in  giving  them. 

Another  tapestry  that  seems  to  be  from  the  same  hand  is  Le  Bal  de  Sausages 
in  I'Eglise  de  Nantilly  de  Saumur. 

The  piece,  is  one  of  the  most  vivid  and  convincing  illustrations  of  the  life  of  the 
time  that  has  come  down  to  us  in  tapestry  form.  The  silhouetting  of  the  figures 
against  contrasting  colors  and  the  structural  emphasis  of  the  vertical  lines  give 
the  design  great  clarity  and  strength. 

Loysot  Lyedet  was  working  for  the  Dukes  of  Burgundy  in  1461  i  He  died  about  1468;  Among  the  most 
famous  of  his  illustrations  are  those  of  the  History  of  Charles  Martel  (Bibliotheque  Royale,  Brussels) 
History  of  Alexander  (Bibliotheque  Nationale,  Paris)  and  the  Roman  History  (Bibliotheque  de  I'Arsenal, 
Paris.) 


Formerly  in  the 
Collection  of  Edouard 
Aynard,  Paris. 
Exhibited: 
Exhibition  of  the 
Middle  Ages  and  the 
Renaissance,  Old 
Palace  of  Sagan,  Paris, 
1913; 

Reproduced: 
Les  Arts,  Sept.,  19 13; 
Gazette  des  Beaux 
Arts,  1913* 


Lent  by 

Jacques  Seligmann 

y  Company. 


GERMANY,  PROBABLY  NUREMBERG, 

MIDDLE  XV  CENTURY  6 

SCENES  FROM  THE  LIFE  OF  CHRIST:  The  Life  of  Christ  is  shown  in  eight  Wool  and  Gold, 

small  scenes y  beginning  with  the  Entrance  into  Jerusalem,  the  Farewell  to  his  Mother,  h.  3  //.  6  in. 

the  Last  Supper,  the  Agony  in  the  Garden,  the  Carrying  of  the  Cross,  the  Crucifixion,  w.  7  //.  6  in. 
the  Pieta,  and  the  Entombment. 

The  scenes  in  this  tapestry  were  apparently  adapted  from  the  illustrations  from 
a  Nuremberg  manuscript  of  the  middle  of  the  XVth  century.  Of  course,  the  weaving 
may  have  been  done  later.  The  simplified  arrangement  of  the  scenes  with  a  reduc- 
tion to  a  minimum  of  the  number  of  actors,  the  relative  size  of  the  figures  to  the 
small  squares  of  the  compositions,  the  marked  indebtedness  in  the  use  of  line  and 
light  and  shade  to  woodcuts,  and  the  courageous  but  not  altogether  easy  use  of 
the  direct  profile,  all  bring  the  pieces  into  close  relationship  with  such  book  illus- 
trations as  those  of  George  Pfinzing's  book  of  travels  {The Pilgrimage  to  Jerusalem), 
now  in  the  City  Library  of  Nuremberg.*  In  fact,  the  parallelism  is  so  very  close, 
the  tapestry  may  well  have  been  adapted  from  illustrations  by  the  same  man, 
the  curiously  conventionalized  line-and-dot  eyes  being  very  characteristic  of  the 
Pfinzing  illustrations  and  not  common  to  all  the  school.  Lent  by 

In  weaving  many  of  the  figures  the  warp  is  curved  to  follow  the  contours.  P.  W.  French  ^ 

The  na'ive  directness  and  unassuming  sincerity  of  the  piece  give  it  great  interest.      Company. 

*Amherger  Catalogue. 


30  CATALOGUE 

7     TOURNAI,  THIRD  QUARTER  XV  CENTURY 

Wool.  THE  HISTORY  OF  HERCULES:  Hercules,  clad  in  a  magnificent  suit  of  shining 
.  lo//.  6  in.  black  armor,  rides  into  the  thickest  tumult  of  a  furious  battle;  with  sword  in  his  right 
w.  8  //.  9  in.  hand,  he  skillfully  parries  the  thrust  of  a  huge  lance,  while  with  the  other  hand  he  deals 
a  swinging  backhand  blow  that  smites  an  enemy  footman  into  insensibility .  His  next 
opponent,  obviously  bewildered  and  frightened,  has  half-turned  to  flee.  The  whole 
apparatus  of  mediceval  combat  is  shown  in  intense  and  crowded  action.  The  piece  is 
incomplete. 

This  tapestry  illustrates  one  of  the  favorite  stories  of  the  Middle  Ages,  and  was 
undoubtedly  originally  one  of  a  set.  In  design  it  is  closely  related  to  the  famous 
Wars  of  Troy  series,  many  examples  of  which  are  known  and  some  of  the  first 
sketches  for  which  are  in  the  Louvre.  It  is  also  closely  related  to  the  History  of 
Titus  set  in  the  Cathedrale  de  Notre  Dame  de  Nantilly  de  Saumur.*  Both  of  these 
sets  are  signed  by  Jean  Van  Room,  and  this  piece  also  is  undoubtedly  from  his 
cartoon.  All  of  these  pieces  were  probably  woven  between  1460  and  1470. 

Jean  Van  Room  (sometimes  called  de  Bruxelles)  is  one  of  the  most  interesting 
personalities  connected  with  the  history  of  Gothic  *tapestry.  He  was  a  cartoon 
painter  and  probably  conducted  a  large  studio,  judging  from  the  number  of  pieces 
of  his  which  are  left  to  us.  Fortunately,  he  had  a  habit  of  signing  his  name  on 
obscure  parts  of  the  designs,  such  as  the  borders  of  garments.  His  work  extends 
over  sixty  years  and  changes  markedly  in  style  during  that  time,  adapting  itself  to 
the  changing  taste  of  his  clients.  This  piece  illustrates  his  earliest  manner.  In  the 
succeeding  decades  he  is  more  and  more  affected  by  the  Renaissance  and  the 
Italian  influence,  until  his  latest  pieces  (cf.  No.  21)  are  quite  unlike  these  first 
designs.  At  the  "close  of  the  century  he  began  to  collaborate  with  Maitre  Philippe, 
evidently  a  younger  man,  who  had  had  Italian  instruction  and  was  less  restrained 
by  early  Gothic  training  (cf.  Nos.  17-19). 

Jean  Van  Room  seems  to  have  done  designs  for  enamels,  also,  that  were  executed 
in  the  studio  of  the  so-called  Monvaerni.  In  the  collection  of  Otto  H.  Kahn  is  a 
Jesus  before  Pilate  very  close  in  style  to  Jean  Van  Room's  early  work,t  on  which 
appear  the  letters  M  E  R  A,  which  might  even  be  a  pied  misspelling  of  Room,  for 
similar  confused  signatures  appear  on  tapestries  known  to  be  his.  A  triptych  with 
Crucifixion  in  the  collection  of  Charles  P.  Taft$  has  figures  very  close  to  the  Crucifix- 
ion tapestry  in  the  Cathedral  of  Angers  done  by  Van  Room  in  his  middle  period. 
According  to  Marquet  de  Vasselot,  this  enamel  bears  the  letters  JENRAGE,  but 
M.  de  Vasselot  also  comments  on  its  illegibility  in  the  present  condition  of  the 
enamel.  Could  he  have  misread  a  letter  or  two.?  Still  another  triptych  with  Crucifix- 
ion, in  the  Hermitage,§  actually  repeats  tv/o  figures  from  the  Angers  Crucifixion 
with  only  very  slight  variations. 

Jean  Van  Room  borrowed  liberally  from  various  other  artists  at  different  stages  of 

*Thiery,  Les  Inscriptions  des  Tapisseries  de  Jean  Van  Room,  pp.  23,  24Ei 
"tMarquei  de  Vasselot,  Les  Emaux  Limousin,  No.  8,  pi.  II. 
top.  cit.  29,  pi.  Xi     %0p.  cit.  49.  pi.  XVIi 


CATALOGUE 


31 


his  career.  In  the  Wars  of  Troy,  the  History  of  Titus,  and  this  piece  he  seems  to  have 
relied  primarily  on  Jean  le  Tavernier  for  his  models,  the  affiliation  being  especially- 
close  in  the  Wars  of  Troy.  Le  Tavernier  is  known  to  have  illustrated  the  Wars  of 
Troy*  and  Jean  Van  Room,  judging  from  the  close  stylistic  relations  of  his  Troy 
tapestries  with  le  Tavernier's  drawings,  evidently  took  his  hints  from  this  lost 
manuscript. 

This  piece  was  probably  woven  under  Pasquier  Grenier  at  Tournai,  as  were  the 
Wars  of  Troy,  on  which  there  are  some  documents. 

This  tapestry  presents  with  extraordinary  vividness  the  fury,  din,  excessive  effort, 
hot  excitement,  and  blinding  confusion  of  crowded  hand-to-hand  conflicts  that 
marked  mediaeval  warfare.  It  must  have  been  conceived  and  rendered  by  an  eye- 
witness who  knew  how  to  select  and  assemble  the  raw  facts  of  the  situation  with 
such  honesty  and  directness  that  an  overwhelming  impression  of  force  and  tumult 
is  created,  and  it  was  woven  for  patrons,  the  fighting  Dukes  of  Burgundy,  by  whom 
every  gruesome  incident  would  be  observed  with  relish  and  every  fine  point  of  indi- 
vidual combat  noted  with  a  shrewd  and  appraising  eye. 


Lent  by 

P.  W.  French  ^ 

Company. 


FRANCE,  END  XV  CENTURY 

ENTOMBMENT  ON  MILLEFLEURS :  Christ  lies  on  the  tomb  which  is  inscribed 
^^Humani  Generis  Redeptori"John  in  a  red  cloak,the  Virgin  in  a  blue  cloak  over  a  red 
brocaded  dress,  and  Mary  Magdalene  in  a  red  cloak  over  a  green  dress  stand  behind  the 
tomb.  At  the  head,  removing  the  crown  of  thorns,  stands  Joseph  of  Arimathea  and  at  the 
foot  Nicodemus.  Both  Joseph  and  Nicodemus  are  in  richly  brocaded  robes.  Borders  at 
the  sides  only  of  alternate  blue  and  red  squares  inscribed  I H  S  and  M  A  surrounded  by 
jeweled  frames.  Millejleurs  on  a  blue  ground.  In  the  upper  left  corner  the  monogram 
I  S  and  in  the  upper  right  W  S,  with  a  scroll  under  each  bearing  the  inscription  ^^de 
Mailly:' 

This  tapestry  is  an  unusually  delicately  and  perfectly  rendered  example  of  the 
millejleurs  aux  personnages  of  France  of  the  late  Gothic  period.  A  small  piece  like 
this  was  undoubtedly  made  for  a  private  chapel,  probably  that  of  the  de  Mailly 
family.  This  quality  of  millefleurs  was  probably  woven  in  Touraine.  An  altar  frontal 
showing  the  Pieta  which  is  very  similar  in  style  is  in  the  Kunstgewerbe  Museum. 
The  drawing  has  the  nice  exactness  of  a  finished  miniature,  the  workmanship  the 
brilliance  of  enamel;  yet  both  are  transfigured  by  the  vivid  conception  of  the 
tragic  event.  Its  utter  pathos  is  expressed  with  moving  power.  We  are  in  the 
presence  of  an  unutterably  solemn  moment. 

*Orderfor  Payment  of  Philip  the  Good,  April  4,  1455,  quoted  in  Van  den  Gheyn,  Croniques  et  Con- 
quetes  de  Charlemaine,  by  le  Tavernier,  p*  ii* 


8 

Wool. 

H.  ift.  10  in. 

w.  7//.  10  in. 


Lent  by 
Demotte. 


32 


CATALOGUE 


FRANCE,  END  XV  CENTURY 

MILLEFLEURS  ARMORIAL  WITH  WILD  MEN:  On  a  delicate  millefleurs 
ground  a  wild  man  and  woman  hold  an  armorial  shield  surmounted  by  a  winged  helmet. 

The  wild  men,  probably  a  modified  revival  of  the  classical  satyrs  in  modified  form, 
were  very  popular  in  France  in  the  Xlllth  and  XlVth  centuries.  There  are  tapestries 
extant  depicting  the  balls  where  all  the  company  came  dressed  in  hairy  tights  to 
represent  these  creatures.  Froissart  recounts  an  episode  of  a  ball  at  the  Hotel  St.  Pol 
in  Paris  in  1392  when  the  king  and  five  of  his  companions  came  in  such  costumes, 
all  chained  together,  and  the  flax  used  to  imitate  the  hair  caught  fire  from  a  torch, 
so  that  in  an  instant  all  were  enveloped  in  flames.  The  king  was  saved  by  the 
presence  of  mind  of  his  cousin,  who  enveloped  him  in  her  skirts,  and  another  was 
saved  by  jumping  into  a  tub  of  water  he  had  noticed  earlier  in  the  evening  in  an 
adjacent  service-room.  The  others  were  burned  to  death. 


FRANCE,  BEGINNING  XVI  CENTURY 

MILLEFLEURS  WITH  SHEPHERDS  AND  THE  SHIELD  OF  THE  RIGAUT 
FAMILY:  Against  a  background  oj  conventionalized  millefleurs^  shepherds  and  shep- 
herdesses and  their  flock.  In  the  center^  two  peasants  holding  a  shield,  evidently  of  the 
Rigaut  family .  In  the  corners  the  shield  of  Rigaut  and  of  another  family .  The  tapestry 
was  evidently  made  to  celebrate  a  marriage,  the  corner  shields  signifying  the  joining  of 
the  families,  an  oblique  reference  being  intended  in  the  pairing  of  the  shepherds  and 
shepherdesses.  A  scroll  in  the  center  bears  the  inscription  ''Par  I(i  Passe  Rigaut.'* 

The  naivet6  both  of  the  characterization  and  of  the  drawing  that  emphasizes  the 
Lent  by      structural  and  silhouette  character  of  the  figures  contributes  greatly  to  the  charm 
'^.  French  ^      of  this  piece.  The  clean,  sharp  rendering  of  the  millefleurs  enhances  the  decorative 
Company,      eff'ect.  The  piece  is  probably  the  work  of  a  small  provincial  loom. 


I  I 


FRANCE,  PROBABLY  LA  MARCHE, 
BEGINNING  XVI  CENTURY 


wland  Silk.      MILLEFLEURS  WITH  ANIMALS:   Against  a  large-scale  millefleurs  ground  on 
3'  Sf^'  7  ^'^«      blue,  deer  are  playing  about  a  fountain  within  a  paddock.  On  a  fence-post  perches  a 
V.  9//.  4  in.      peacock.  Outside  the  fence  a  fox  waits,  watching  slyly.  In  the  background  conventional 
castles. 

The  floreation  is  rather  unusual,  as  it  shows  the  transition  from  the  Gothic  mille- 
fleurs to  the  Renaissance  verdure.  The  enlarged  scale  of  the  flowers  and  the  use  of 
the  iris  and  the  scrolled  thistle-leaves  in  the  foreground  show  the  influence  of  the 
Lent  by      Renaissance,  but  the  daisies  and  wild  roses  are  still  Gothic  in  feeling,  as  are  the  un- 
'^.  French  ^      usually  charming  and  vivacious  deer.  The  conventional  rendering  of  the  water  is 
Company,      skillfully  managed.  The  sly  fox  is  especially  well  characterized. 


Pastoral  Scene 


No.  13 


CATALOGUE 

FRANCE,  PROBABLY  LA  MARCHE, 
EARLY  XVI  CENTURY 


33 


MILLEFLEURS  WITH  ANIMALS:  Millefleurs  with  animals  on  a  blue  ground. 
At  the  top  a  narrow  strip  oj conventionalized  hilly  landscape. 

Many  tapestries  of  this  type  were  woven  in  France  at  the  end  of  the  XVth  and  be- 
ginning of  the  XVI th  century.  They  are  one  of  the  most  successful  types  of  tap- 
estry decoration,  the  quaint  animals  in  this  piece  being  especially  charming,  and 
one  of  the  most  generally  useful  kinds  of  wall  decoration,  so  that  the  demand  for 
them  was  large  and  continuous.  As  a  result,  the  style  was  produced  almost  with- 
out modification  for  over  a  hundred  years.  Only  the  bit  of  landscape  at  the  top 
indicates  that  this  was  woven  in  the  beginning  of  the  XVIth  century  and  not  in 
the  middle  of  the  XVth. 


12 

Wool. 

H.  4//.  5  in. 

w.  9//.  5  in. 


Lent  by 
Dikran  K. 
Kelekian. 


FRANCE,  LATE  XV  CENTURY 

PASTORAL  SCENE:  Two  ladies  have  strolled  into  the  country  with  their  lords,  who 
are  on  the  way  to  the  hunt,  one  with  a  falcon  and  the  other  with  a  spear  and  dog.  On  the 
way  they  have  stopped  to  talk  to  a  group  of  peasants  who  are  tending  their  flocks  and  to 
play  with  their  children.  One  young  peasant  girl  is  gathering  a  basket  of  grapes. 

Such  peasant  scenes  as  this  were  much  in  demand  during  the  XVth  century.  A  piece 
very  similar  both  in  general  spirit  and  in  detailed  drawing  and  facial  types  is  in  the 
Musee  des  Arts  Decoratifs.  In  this  two  lords  are  watching  a  large  group  of  wood- 
cutters. 

The  piece  is  an  excellent  illustration  of  the  clarity  of  French  design.  Each  figure 
stands  out  almost  entirely  detached  against  the  background.  Yet,  nevertheless,  the 
naturalness  of  the  grouping  is  not  sacrificed.  The  piece  conveys  extraordinarily  the 
impression  of  a  real  scene,  a  common  daily  occurrence  among  people  that  we  might 
reasonably  expect  to  know,  at  which  we  are  allowed  to  be  present  in  spite  of  the 
intervening  four  hundred  years. 

Some  of  the  tricks  of  drawing  and  the  types  portrayed  are  so  very  similar  to 
those  in  some  of  the  stained-glass  windows  of  St.  Etienne  du  Mont  and  of  St. 
Germain-FAuxerrois  the  cartoons  must  be  by  members  of  the  same  school,  one  of 
the  groups  of  I'lJe  de  France,  and  may  quite  possibly  be  by  the  same  man. 


13 

Wool. 

H.  9//.  6  in. 

w.  9//. 


Formerly  In  the 
De  Zolte  Collections 


Lent  by 
Duveen  Brothers. 


FLANDERS,  FIRST  QUARTER  XVI  CENTURY  1 4—  16 

THREE  PIECES  FROM  A  SERIES  ILLUSTRATING  THE  CREED:    This  Wool  and  Silk, 

series  of  scenes  illustrating  the  Creed  begins  {No.  14)  with  the  Creation  of  the  World.  The  No.  14 : 

designer,  evidently  with  some  allegorical  poem  in  mind,  includes  in  the  scene  Sapientia,  h.  ii  //.  6  in. 

Potencia,  and  Benignitas,  depicted,  in  characteristic  mediceval  form,  as  three  richly  w.  14//.  2  in. 


34  CATALOGUE 

No.  15:      dressed  women.  In  the  center  scene  these  three  offer  the  world  to  God.  On  the  right y 

I.  10  ft.  9  in.      Gubernacioy  Redempcio,  and  Caritas  stand  under  the  throne  of  the  Trinity. 

7//.  3^2  in.          In  the  second  piece  {No.  15)  the  series  continues  with  the  Life  of  Christy  beginning 

No.  16:      with  the  Annunciation,  the  Nativity,  and  the  Adoration  of  the  Kings. 

H.  1 1  //.  Reverting  to  the  older  tradition  of  the  XlVth  century  that  had  been  almost  displaced 

7.  10  ft.  5  in.      during  the  XVth  century,  all  the  events  of  Christ's  public  life  are  omitted,  and  the  third 

piece  {No.  16)  depicts  the  scenes  of  the  Passion,  including  the  popular  interpolation  of 

Christ's  farewell  to  his  Mother,  with  the  Apostles  in  the  background,  the  Resurrection, 

and  finally  Christ  taking  his  place  at  the  right  hand  of  God  while  the  angels  sing  hos  annas. 

Below,  throughout  the  series,  is  the  set  of  the  Apostles  facing  Prophets,  symbolic  of  the 

parallelism  of  the  Old  and  New  Testaments,  each  with  a  scroll  bearing  his  speech  in  the 

conventional  responses  depicted  in  so  many  works  of  art  of  the  period.  So  Peter  {No.  14), 

says,  "/  believe  in  God  the  Father  Omnipotent,''  and  Jeremiah,  who  faces  him,  replies, 

*'You  invoke  the  Father  who  made  the  earth  and  builded  the  heavens."  Next  {No.  15) 

comes  Andrew,  who  originally  faced  David,  a  figure  now  missing.  The  next  pair,  John 

and  Daniel,  is  also  missing.  There  follow  {No.  16)  Thomas,  who  originally  faced  Hosea, 

and  John  the  Lesser,  who  is  opposite  Amos.  Above,  on  either  side  of  the  Nativity 

(No.  15),  is  introduced  another  pair,  John  the  Greater  and  Isaiah. 

The  complete  piece,  of  which  number  16  is  the  right-hand  end,  was  formerly  in  the 
Toledo  Cathedral,  then  in  the  collection  of  Asher  Wertheimer,  of  London.  The 
present  owner  is  unknown.*  Another  rendition  was  in  the  Vatican,  but  disappeared 
in  the  middle  of  the  XlXth  century.t 

Tapestries  illustrating  the  Creed  were  common  throughout  the  Middle  Ages. 
They  appear  frequently  in  XlVth-century  inventories,  and  a  number  of  examples 
from  the  XVth  and  early  XVI th  century  are  left  to  us.  The  Apostles  and  Prophets 
arranged  in  pairs  are  a  common  feature  of  this  type  of  tapestry. 

The  cartoons  are  evidently  the  work  of  the  painter  who  painted  the  ceiling  of 
the  Church  of  St.  Guy  at  Naarden,  whom  Dr.  Six  tentatively  identifies  as  Albert 
Claesz.f  The  similarity  is  too  close  to  be  overlooked.  The  Christ  of  the  Naarden 
Resurrection^  and  this  Resurrection  are  almost  identical,  the  face  of  God  the 
Father  in  the  Assumption  is  almost  identical  with  that  of  an  onlooker  in  the  Naarden 
Betrayal,]}  and  Adam  in  the  first  piece  of  this  series  closely  resembles  the  Christ  of 
the  Naarden  Flagellation.^  But  more  indicative  are  the  lesser  peculiarities  com- 
mon to  both  series.  There  are  in  both  the  same  curiously  flattened  and  slightly 
distorted  skulls  with  very  large  ears,  the  same  large  eyes  with  heavy  arched  lids  and 
eyebrows  close  above  them,  oblique  and  not  quite  correctly  placed  in  the  three- 
quarter  views,  and  always  looking  beyond  their  focus.  The  mouths,  too,  in  some 
nerly  in  Evora  ^^  the  faces  are  overemphasized  in  the  same  way,  and  the  feet  have  the  same  quaint 
dace,  Portugah      distortion,  being  seen  from  above,  as  in  the  figure  of  the  Prophet  John  (No.  15).  And 

*See  Burlington  Magazine,  vol.  20,  pp.  247,  309;  D.  T.  B.  Wood,  Credo  Tapestries^ 
iSee  Barbier  de  Montault's  inventory  in  Annales  Archeologiques,  tome  15,  pp.  232,  296* 
XV an  Kale  ken,  Peintures  ecclesiastiques  du  Moyen  Age.  Notes  by  Dr.  Jan  Six. 
%0p,  cit.  p.  I.  110^.  cit,  p.  3.  top.  cit.  p.  15. 


CATALOGUE 


35 


in  very  conspicuous  minor  agreement,  the  cross  has  a  strongly  indicated  and  rigidly 
conventionalized  graining  identical  in  the  two  renditions.  The  attitude  of  the  Christ 
and  the  indication  of  the  garment  in  the  Toledo  tapestry  is  very  close  to  that  in  the 
Naarden  painting. 

The  floreation  was  probably  introduced  by  the  weaver.  The  delightfully  exact 
scene  of  the  owl  scolded  by  a  magpie,  while  a  pigeon  sits  near  by  and  another  bird 
flutters  about  (No.  14),  is  repeated  with  slight  variations  in  a  number  of  XVIth- 
century  pieces. 

The  drawing  in  these  tapestries  is  rather  unusually  primitive  for  pieces  of  this 
period,  but  the  figures  have  a  broad  monumental  character  and  a  direct  sincerity  of 
bearing  that  make  them  very  convincing. 


Lent  by 
Demotte. 


FLANDERS,  PROBABLY  BRUSSELS, 
BEGINNING  XVI  CENTURY 

THREE  PIECES  FROM  A  SERIES  ILLUSTRATING  THE  CREED:  In  the 

first  piece  {No.  \i)  four  scenes  from  the  Life  of  Christ  are  portrayed:  the  Adoration  of 
the  Kings,  the  Presentation  at  the  Temple,  the  meeting  of  Christ  and  John,  and  Christ 
among  the  Doctors.  In  the  corner  sits  a  prophet,  probably  David.  The  piece  undoubtedly 
began  with  the  Nativity,  at  the  left,  and  possibly  the  Annunciation,  with  the  Apostle 
Andrew  in  the  other  corner.  This  would  indicate  that  the  piece  was  the  second  in  the 
series,  the  first  probably  having  been  the  Creation  of  the  Earth,  with  Peter  and  Jeremiah. 

The  second  piece  {No.  18)  shows  the  Circumcision  and  the  Assumption  of  the 
Virgin,  and  evidently  included  at  least  one  more  scene  at  the  right. 

The  third  piece  {No.  19)  shows  the  full  scene  of  the  Last  Judgment  with  a  personage 
who  seems  to  be  Philip  in  one  corner  and  in  the  other  Zephani ah.  The  piece  is  complete 
except,  possibly,  for  a  border.  A  tapestry  from  the  same  cartoon  with  a  narrow  border 
of  flowers  is  in  the  Louvre.  Christ,  enthroned,  is  surrounded  by  the  Virgin,  Saint  John, 
and  the  eleven  Apostles.  Angels  bearing  instruments  of  the  Passion  and  sounding 
trumpets  flutter  through  the  sky.  At  the  right  of  the  throne  angels  come  bearing  crowns 
for  the  elect.  Below  the  dead  are  rising  from  the  graves.  Before  the  throne  of  Christ 
Justice  bearing  a  sword  and  Pity  bearing  a  lily  come  to  punish  the  Seven  Deadly 
Sins,  Pride,  Avarice,  Luxury,  Greed,  Anger,  Envy,  and  Laziness,  an  episode  adopted 
from  the  Mystery  Plays.  On  the  border  of  the  robe  of  the  Virgin  appear  the  letters 
WOL  and  on  the  border  of  the  robe  of  the  last  Apostle  at  Christ's  left  the  letters  RIM 
DACI  BAPTIST  A  ORADI. 

Seven  other  large  tapestries  very  closely  related  to  these  are  known.  They  repre- 
sent various  episodes  involving  Christ  and  numerous  allegorical  figures  that  have 
not  been  identified.  Three  of  these  are  in  the  collection  of  Baron  de  Zuylen  du 
Nyevelt  de  Haar,  two  in  the  Burgos  Cathedral,  and  two  others  have  passed  into 
private  collections  and  been  lost  sight  of.*  Another  smaller  piece,  apparently  of 
*BurlingtQn  Magazine,  vol.  20,  p.  220;  D.  Ti  B.  Wood,  Tapestries  oj the  Seven  Deadly  SinSi 


17-19 

Wool  and  Silk. 

No.  17: 

H.  lift.  10  in. 

w.  17//.  6  in. 

No.  18: 

H.  1 1  //.  7  in. 

w.  7//.  5  in. 

No.  19: 

H.   12//. 

w.  16  ft. 


The  Last  Judgment  was 
formerly  in  the  Evora 
Palace,  Portugal,  and 
is  illustrated  from  the 
Louvre  example  in 
Migeon,  Les  Arts  de 
Tissu,  p.  220;  in  part, 
in  E.  Male,  V  Art 
religieux  de  la  fin  du 
Moyen  Age  en  France, 
p.  501;  Burlington,  voh 
20,  pi  9;  Figaro  IllustrS, 
I9lli 

The  Circumcision  and 
Assumption     is     illus- 
trated in  Demotte,  Les 
Tapisseries  gothiques. 
Premiere  Serie,  pi.  39* 


LOGUE 


Lent  by 

Demotte. 


the  same  series,  was  number  X  in  the  Morgan  Collection.  Three  duplicates  are 
also  in  Hampton  Court. 

The  series  is  closely  related  also  to  the  Life  of  the  Virgin  set  in  the  Royal  Collec- 
tion at  Madrid,  and  also  the  Presentation  in  the  Temple  of  the  Martin  le  Roy 
Collection.  The  cartoons  are  clearly  the  work  of  Maitre  Philippe,  and  the  weaving 
was  evidently  done  in  Flanders,  probably  in  Brussels,  about  1510.  Marquet  de 
Vasselot  suggests  that  the  cartoons  of  the  Martin  le  Roy  piece  and  of  the  Madrid 
series  were  done  after  a  second  master  under  the  influence  of  Gerard  David.* 
Destree,  following  Wauters,  suggests  Jean  de  Bruxelles,  known  author  of  the 
cartoon  for  the  Communion  of  Herkenbald,  another  Maitre  Philippe  piece,  to 
which  he  sees  a  resemblance,!  and  Thiery  repeats  the  claim,  but  on  far-fetched 
evidence.J 

Certainly  the  types  are  very  close  to  those  of  Gerard  David.  Some  of  the  figures 
on  David's  Tree  of  Mary  in  the  Lyons  Museum  §  are  repeated  almost  exactly,  and 
some  of  the  female  figures  are  very  like  the  Saint  in  the  Marriage  of  Catherine 
in  the  San  Luca  Academy  at  Rome. II  But  other  types,  such  as  Zacharias  in  the 
meeting  of  Christ  and  John,  are  more  reminiscent  of  Hugo  Van  der  Goes,  being, 
for  instance,  almost  identical  with  Joseph  of  Arim^thea  in  the  Descent  from  the 
Cross  in  the  National  Museum,  Naples,  1[  even  to  such  details  as  the  drawing  and 
placing  of  the  ear.  The  glimpses  of  landscapes,  too,  are  clearly  derived  from  Hugo 
in  their  composition  and  details,  and  even  the  floreations  are  close  to  those  in 
some  of  Hugo's  work,  notably  the  Original  Sin  in  the  Imperial  Gallery  of  Vienna,** 
where  one  finds  the  same  upspringing  sheaf  of  iris.  The  work  would  seem  to  be 
that  of  a  lesser  eclectic,  such  as  the  author  of  the  Life  of  Mary  in  the  Bishops' 
Palace  at  Evora. 

In  all  the  pieces  there  are  intense  sincerity  and  real  grandeur  of  design.  The  Last 
Judgment,  in  the  musical  swinging  together  of  the  draperies,  the  perfect  control 
of  the  great  composition,  and  in  the  fine  development  of  the  dominance  of  Christ 
without  sacrifice  of  the  minor  episodes,  as  well  as  in  the  power  of  expression  of 
the  thrilling  solemnity  of  the  moment,  deserves  to  rank  with  the  greatest  inter- 
pretations of  the  subject. 


2  o     BRUSSELS,  BEGINNING  OF  XVI  CENTURY 

ool  and  Silk.      SCENES  FROM  A  ROMANCE:  A  queen  surrounded  by  her  court  awaits  the 

.  11  ft.  2,  i'^'      preparation  of  a  document.  There  is  a  general  interchange  oj  documents  among  the 

,  13  //.  2  in.      courtiers  at  the  right.  In  the  background,  upper  left,  a  knight  indites  a  letter,  and  on 

the  opposite  side  two  knights  wait  on  horseback.  The  scenes  illustrate  some  contemporary 

*Catalogue  of  the  Collection  of  Martin  le  Roy,  vol;  4. 
iDestree,  Tapisseries  et  Sculptures  bruxelloises,  p.  8. 
tThiery,  Les  Inscriptions  des  Tapisseries  de  Jean  Van  Room. 
%Bodenhauser,  Gerard  David,  No.  10.  110^.  cit.  No.  25a. 

IDestree,  Hugo  Van  der  Goes,  opp.  p.  48.        **Opi,  cit„  opp.  p.  32* 


CATALOGUE 


37 


romance  and  are  closely  related  to  the  Court  of  Love  tapestries  that  were  so  often  woven      Formerly  In  the 
at  this  time.  Morgan  Collection; 

The  cartoon,  like  those  of  the  Court  of  Love  scenes,  is  the  work  of  the  studio  of 

Maitre  Philippe.  Jean  Van  Room  probably  collaborated,  as  his  signature  appears 

on  a  very  similar  tapestry  of  David  and  Bathsheba  in  the  Royal  Spanish  Collection.* 

As  in  that  tapestry,  the  elegantly  dressed  persons  are  quite  typical  of  the  prosperous      Lent  by 

burghers  of  the  time  and  might  well  be  used  as  fashion  plates.  The  composition  is      P.  W.  French  ^ 

skillful  in  the  balancing  of  the  groups  and  the  massing  of  the  drapes  to  form  a      Company. 

support  for  the  dominant  figure  of  the  queen. 


BRUSSELS,  EARLY  XVI  CENTURY 

THE  TRIUMPH  OF  DAVID:  David  carrying  the  head  of  Goliath  on  his  sword 
and  surrounded  by  musicians  is  followed  by  King  Saul  and  Jonathan  on  horseback. 
In  the  background  a  hilly  landscape  with  the  tents  of  the  Hebrews.  A  narrow  floral 
border. 

The  cartoon  was  painted  by  Jean  Van  Room,  his  signature  appearing  on  another 
piecef  of  the  same  series  in  the  Musee  du  Cinquantenaire,  Brussels.  Maitre  Philippe 
must  have  collaborated  with  him  in  this  work,  for  a  strong  Italian  influence  is 
evident  which  appears  only  in  the  Van  Room  tapestries  that  have  had  Philippe's 
assistance. 

Though  the  drawing  and  details  show  the  incoming  Renaissance  influence,  the 
full  continuous  narrative  arrangement  of  the  group,  the  strong  vertical  lines  of 
the  figures,  and  the  simple  modeling  show  the  tarrying  Gothic  feeling.  The  groups 
are  beautifully  massed  and  the  individual  figures  show  great  dignity. 


21 

H.  13//.  9  in. 
w.  lift.  I  in. 
Barberini  Collection; 
Ffoulke  Collection. 
Illustrated:   Ffoulke 
Collection,  opp.  p.  43. 
Exhibited: 
Exposition  d'Art 
ancien  bruxellois, 
Brussels,  1905, 
No.  XXI.  Illustrated: 
Destree,  Catalogue  of 
same,  pi.  XXIV. 

Lent  by  Wm.  C. 
Van  Antwerp. 


SWITZERLAND,  EARLY  XVI  CENTURY 

TWO  PAIRS  OF  LOVERS:  Two  pairs  of  lovers  are  pictured  against  a  background 
of  vines  with  blue-green  scrolled  leaves  and  large  red  and  yellow  blossoms  on  a  dark- 
blue  field.  The  pair  at  the  right  is  on  either  side  of  a  Gothic  pedestal  on  which  is  a 
small  statue.  The  ladies  are  in  red  robes.  One  man  is  in  a  blue  doublet^  the  other  in 
a  two-toned  red  brocaded  cloak.  Border  of  rose-vines  and  daisies. 

The  piece  was  probably  woven  in  Basle,  and  is  undoubtedly  adapted  from  a  wood- 
block illustration  in  one  of  Leonhard  Ysenmuth's  publications.  The  width  and 
richness  of  the  border  indicate  that  it  was  done  in  the  early  XVI th  rather  than  in 
the  late  XVth  century. 

*Thiery,  Les  Inscriptions  des  Tapisseries  de  Jean  Van  Room,  p.  28. 

^Thiery,  Les  Inscriptions  des  Tapisseries  de  Jean  Van  Room,  p.  27;  Also,  Destree  and  Van  den  Ven, 
Les  Tapisseries,  No.  17* 


22 

Wool. 

H.  4//.  3>^  in. 

w.  ^  ft.  9>^  in. 


Formerly  in  the 
Collection  of  Comtesse 
Desauto/i 


38 


CATALOGUE 


The  subject  of  pairs  of  lovers  was  quite  a  favorite  one  with  German  and  Swiss 
weavers,  and  a  number  of  them  in  different  styles  is  left  to  us.  The  piece  is  prob- 
ably the  work  of  an  amateur,  a  nun,  or  more  probably  some  lady,  who  thus  filled 
her  long  leisure  hours.  The  wood-block  print  has  been  closely  followed  for  the 
figures,  even  to  such  minor  details  as  the  very  simple  conventionalization  of  the 
hair.  The  vine  background  in  rather  a  large  scale  is  common  to  many  Swiss  tapes- 
tries of  the  period.  The  limited  range  of  colors  used  is  especially  worthy  of  note, 
there  being  only  three  shades  of  blue,  three  of  green-blue,  three  of  tan,  and  two 
of  red,  in  addition  to  the  black  for  the  outlines. 

The  work  is  thoroughly  naive,  but  it  has  the  strong  appeal  of  genuineness  and 
directness  common  to  naive  designs  and  shows  a  strong  feeling  for  decorative 
quality. 


BRUSSELS,  SECOND  QUARTER  XVI  CENTURY 

THREE  SCENES  FROM  THE  DEEDS  OF  SCIPIO:  In  the  first  piece  (No.  23) 
Scipio  enthroned  offers  the  mural  crown  to  Cuius  Laelius.  Roman  army  officers  stand 
about.  In  the  background  the  army  is  assembled. 

In  the  second  piece  {No.  24)  Scipio  is  about  to  land  in  Africa.  In  the  foreground 
two  vessels  filled  with  soldiers.  In  the  background  the  city  of  Utica. 

In  the  third  piece  {No.  is)  Hannibal  approaches  Scipio  to  sue  for  peace.  In  the 
background  the  opposing  armies  face  each  other  on  either  side  of  a  river. 

The  pieces  bear  the  Brussels  city  mark  and  the  monogram  H.M.  (Hubert  de 
Mecht).  The  cartoons  are  attributed  to  Giulio  Romano,  fifteen  of  the  original 
small  drawings  being  in  the  Louvre.  There  are  in  all  eighteen  pieces  in  this  set, 
and  two  subsequent  sets,  the  Triumphs  of  Scipio  and  the  Fruits  of  War^  make  a 
total  of  thirty-five  pieces  in  the  complete  history,  one  of  the  largest  sequences  ever 
attempted  in  tapestry. 

The  cartoons  have  been  woven  a  number  of  times  and  examples  have  been 
included  in  many  famous  collections,  including  that  of  Francis  L  These  pieces 
were  so  rich  in  gold  that  they  were  burned  to  obtain  the  metal  during  the  Revo- 
lution. 

These  three  pieces  are  from  one  of  the  earliest  weavings,  and  in  perfection  of 
execution  and  sumptuousness  of  material  far  surpass  most  of  the  renderings,  rank- 
ing with  the  greatest  productions  of  the  early  Renaissance.  The  use  of  the  metal 
is  particularly  effective,  occurring  as  it  does  in  three  techniques,  plain  weaving, 
basket  weaving,  which  always  gives  a  heavy  richness,  and  couching. 

The  borders  with  the  classical  allegorical  figures  under  porticos  are  of  a  very 
fine  type,  following  the  example  set  by  Raphael  in  his  panels  for  the  Acts  of  the 
Apostles. 

For  vividness  of  illustration,  strength  and  clarity  of  silhouette,  and  delicacy 
and  freshness  of  color  this  set  is  nowhere  surpassed. 


CATALOGUE 


39 


BRUSSELS,  XVI  CENTURY 

TWO  SCENES  FROM  THE  LIFE  OF  CYRUS:  In  the  first  {No.  26)  Cyrus  cap- 
tures  AstyageSy  his  grandfather.  Soldiers  stand  about,  and  in  the  background  the  army 
is  assembled. 

In  the  second  (No.  27)  Thomyris  has  the  head  of  Cyrus  offered  as  a  human  sacrifice. 
An  attendant  is  placing  the  head  in  a  gold  basin  and  soldiers  standing  about  draw 
back  in  horror.  In  the  background  a  battle  wages. 

These  two  pieces,  showing  the  moment  of  greatest  triumph  and  the  ultimate  defeat 
of  Cyrus,  the  great  world  conqueror,  are  from  a  famous  set  that  has  been  woven 
several  times.  One  of  these  sets,  belonging  to  the  royal  family  of  France,  was 
used  in  the  funeral  service  of  Francis  IL  Another  group  from  the  series  is  in  the 
Royal  Spanish  Collection.  The  only  set  known  with  a  weaver's  signature  bears 
the  mark  of  Nicolas  Leyniers,  and  it  is  entirely  probable  that  all  of  the  examples, 
including  these  two,  are  from  those  looms. 

They  are  very  fine  examples  of  a  type  of  design  perfected  in  the  first  half  of  the 
XVI th  century  in  Brussels.  The  fullness  of  details  in  the  background  serves  to  keep 
the  textile  rich  and  interesting  and  to  throw  into  sharp  silhouette  the  dominant  figures. 
The  intricate  and  decorative  borders  that  are  used  on  these  pieces  well  illustrate 
one  of  the  most  important  contributions  of  the  Renaissance  to  tapestry  design. 


26,27 

Wool  and  Silk. 
No.  26: 
H.  lift. 
w.  IS  ft. 
No.  27: 

H.  12//. 
w.  16  ft. 

Illustrated: 
Hauser  y  Menet, 
Los  Tap  ices  de  la 
Corona  de  Espana, 
vol.  2,  pls;  119,  121* 

Lent  by 
Mr.  ^  Mrs. 
Daniel  C. 
Jackling. 


BRUSSELS,  XVI  CENTURY 

THE  PENTECOST:  The  Apostles  and  the  members  of  the  Early  Church  are  gathered 
together.  The  tongues  of  fire  descend  upon  them,  and  the  Holy  Ghost  appears  like  a 
dove  between  the  figures  of  God  and  Jesus  revealed  above.  A  wide  border  of  scroll  with 
inset  medallions  of  biblical  scenes.  In  the  upper  border  a  papal  coat  of  arms. 

Renaissance  tapestries  in  so  intimate  a  scale  that  yet  are  not  miniature  occur 
rather  seldom.  The  piece  has  great  clarity  and  brilliance  and  carries  forcefully 
the  religious  feeling  of  the  episode. 

In  the  selvage  the  Brussels  city  mark  and  the  weaver's  initials,  C.  S.  The  mark 
is  unidentified. 


28 

Wool  and  Silk. 
H.  8//.  10  in. 
w.  7//.  2  in. 


Lent  by 
William  Baum- 
garten  ^  Company. 


BRUSSELS,  XVI  CENTURY 

JUDITH  DEPARTS  FOR  THE  ENEMY'S  CAMP:  Judith  accompanied  by  her 
maid  takes  leave  of  her  mother.  Attendants  await  to  lead  her  away  and  a  slave  awaits 
in  the  background  holding  two  camels.  Wide  border  of  fruits  and  flowers. 

This  is  one  of  a  very  famous  set  of  the  Story  of  Judith  and  Holof ernes,  examples 
of  which  are  in  a  number  of  famous  collections.  The  tapestry  bears  on  the  selvage 
the  Brussels  city  mark  and  the  weaver's  monogram,  N.  X.  The  mark  is  unidentified. 
This  piece  is  a  strong  example  of  a  set  that  combines  characteristic  Renaissance 
stateliness  with  a  less  customary  direct  charm. 


29 

Wool  and  Silk. 
11.6  ft.  g  in. 
w.  12  ft-  8  in. 


Lent  by 
William  Baum- 
garten  ^  Company . 


40 


CATALOGUE 


BRUSSELS,  MIDDLE  XVI  CENTURY 

GARDEN  SCENE:  Through  a  trellis  upheld  by  caryatides  a  formal  garden  with 
fountains  and  pavilions  is  seen.  In  the  foreground^  deer.  In  the  garden^  various 
animals.  Border  oj  scrolls  and  flowers  with  inset  cartouches  showing  animals. 

Such  trellis  designs  as  this  were  quite  often  used  in  the  middle  of  the  XVI th  century. 
A  famous  example  very  similar  to  this  is  the  Vertumnus  and  Pomona  set,  one 
of  which  was  in  the  Palace  of  the  Escurial  and  two  in  the  Barberini  Collection.* 
Another  piece  so  like  this  that  it  must  be  the  work  of  the  same  designer  is  in  the 
Vienna  Collection,  number  142. 

It  is  a  rich  and  resourceful  kind  of  decoration  well  fitted  to  the  requirements  of 
tapestry.  The  drawing  of  the  deer  is  unusually  graceful  and  vivacious. 


FLANDERS,  XVI  CENTURY 

VERDURE:  In  the  center  a  chateau  surrounded  by  a  moat  on  which  swans  and  ducks 
swim  about.  At  the  left  fishermen  on  the  bank  and  a  huriter  with  his  dogs.  On  the  right 
mounted  hunters  chasing  rabbits  through  a  wood. 

The  high-keyed  landscape  on  a  small  scale  was  the  Renaissance  successor  to  the 
Gothic  millefleurs.  The  drawing  in  this  piece  is  beautifully  clean  and  exact,  and 
the  color  delightfully  and  uncommonly  varied  and  vibrant.  The  chateau  is  so  care- 
fully rendered  that  it  is  valuable  as  an  architectural  record.  The  piece  may  have 
been  made  by  Flemish  weavers  working  in  England. 


32 

Wool. 

H.  9  ft' 

w.  23//. 


FLANDERS,  LATE  XVI  CENTURY 

HUNTING  SCENE:  Hunters  riding  through  a  woodland.  In  the  foreground  a  knight 
and  lady  strolling.  Scroll  border. 

This  piece  is  a  rather  uncommon  variation  of  a  familiar  type.  Many  tapestries 
were  woven  in  Flanders  in  the  second  part  of  the  XVI th  century  that  were  pre- 
dominantly verdure  with  a  few  minor  figures,  but  the  figures  were  seldom  as  deli- 
cately drawn  nor  the  colors  so  high  in  key  and  clear.  It  is  quite  possible  that  the 
piece  was  woven  by  Flemish  weavers  in  England,  a  few  pieces  woven  there  by  the 
Poyntz  family  being  known  to  have  somewhat  the  same  quality.  The  relatively 
low  height  in  proportion  to  the  great  length  also  suggests  that  it  was  made  for 
an  English  house. 
*For  illustration,  see  FJoulke  Collection,  oppi  p*  49* 


CATALOGUE  4I 

FLANDERS,  ENGHIEN  (?),  XVI  CENTURY  33 

VERDURE:  Large  scrolling  leaves,  bluish-green,  with  bunches  oj  fruit  and  flowers  Wool. 

and  small  finches.  Wide  border  of  fruit  and  flowers.  h.  9//.  7  in. 

Verdures  of  this  type  were  very  much  in  demand  in  the  Renaissance  period.  They  ^*  ^  -f^'  9  ^^• 
are  typical  of  the  decorative  manner  of  the  time  and  one  of  its  finest  inventions. 

The  heavy,  simple  leaves  are  often  too  obvious  and  too  readily  explored  for  the  Lent  by 

best  tapestry  decoration;  but  in  this  piece  the  beautifully  drawn  birds  provide  Dikran  K. 

delicacy  and  interest  of  detail.  Kelekian. 


BRUGES,  MIDDLE  XVI  CENTURY  (1556)  34  ' 

ARMORIAL:  Two  amorini  support  a  shield.  Above,  crossed  banners;  below,  dolphins.      Wool  and  Silk. 
Six  flags  radiate  from  the  shield,  each  bearing  the  initial  P  surmounted  by  a  crown,      h.  9//.  i  in. 
Border  of  scrolls  and  classic  figures.  In  cartouches  in  the  side  and  lower  borders  the      w.  8//.  9  in. 
initials  F,  G,  and  X  respectively,  and  in  the  corresponding  cartouche  of  the  top  border 
the  date,  1556.  On  the  right  lower  selvage  is  the  city  mark  of  Bruges,  with  the  weaver's 
monogram,  A.  F.* 

This  tapestry  is  very  interesting,  not  only  because  it  is  a  clear,  strong  example  of 
a  Renaissance  heraldic  hanging,  but  because  very  few  pieces  of  the  period  can  be 
ascribed  definitely  to  Bruges  although  it  is  known  that  important  looms  flourished 
there.  The  weaver's  monogram  has  not  been  identified.  The  coat  of  arms,  which  is 
also  unidentified,  seems  to  be  Spanish,  and  judging  by  the  coronet  evidently  be- 
longed to  a  family  of  high  station.  The  amorini  are  after  a  follower  of  Giulio  Lent  by 
Romano,  if  not  by  Romano  himself.  P-  ^'  French  ^ 

The  relief  effect  of  the  design  is  quite  extraordinary.  Company, 


BRUSSELS,  XVI  CENTURY  (1574)  35 

THE  CRUCIFIXION:  Christ  and  the  two  thieves  on  the  crosses.  In  the  foreground.      Wool,  Silk,  Gold, 
right,  the  Roman  soldiers;  left,  the  sorrowing  Marys.  Floral  border.  Dated  in  cartouche      h.  with  frame, 
in  the  border,  1574.  4  A 

This  is  one  of  a  number  of  small  tapestries  in  silk  and  gold  of  religious  subjects,      ^*  ^^       rame, 
most  of  which  have  been  attributed  to  Bernard  Van  Orley,  who  probably  designed      3J  -  9  ^^' 
this  piece  also.  They  are  all  of  them  very  exact  reproductions  of  paintings,  remark- 
able in  weave  and  very  beautiful  in  color.  The  type  was  first  woven  in  the  first 
quarter  of  the  XVI th  century,  and  continued  to  be  produced  in  very  limited  num- 
bers until  well  into  the  XVIIth  century.  They  were  undoubtedly  woven  only  for 
special  orders — probably  for  private  chapels. 
*Thomson,  History  of  Tapestry,  pi  479* 


42 


CATALOGUE 


Lent  by 

fV.  French  ^ 

Company 


The  piece  is  a  very  brilliant  example  of  one  of  the  richest  types  of  tapestry 
that  has  ever  been  woven. 

Bernard  Van  Orley  (1492-5  to  1540)  was  trained  by  his  father,  Valentin,  and  afterwards  studied  under 
Raphael  in  Italy.  He  was  engaged  to  supervise  the  translation  of  Raphael's  cartoons  for  the  famous 
series  of  the  Apostles  into  tapestry.  In  15 18  he  became  court  painter.  He  designed  many  tapestries, 
of  which  the  most  famous  are  the  Hunts  of  Maximilian  and  the  Victory  of  Pavia  series; 


36 

^00/  and  Silk. 
H.  lift. 
w.  17//. 


Lent  by 

fF.  French  ^ 

Company. 


FONTAINEBLEAU,  MIDDLE  XVI  CENTURY 

GROTESQUES:  On  a  red  ground,  grotesques,  of  which  the  principal  features  are:  in 
the  center  Flora  in  an  arbor  on  the  top  of  which  stands  Atlas  upholding  the  world;  two 
cartouches  left  and  two  right  with  candelabra  and  various  deities.  Below  at  the  left 
in  a  small  oval  medallion  Leda  and  the  Swan,  and  in  the  corresponding  medallion 
on  the  other  side  Eve  and  the  Serpent.  The  remaining  spaces  are  filled  with  amoriniy 
garlands  of  fruit  and  flowers,  gods,  and  various  ornaments.  Narrow  floral  borders, 
and  in  the  center  of  both  side  borders  a  triangle. 

The  triangles  in  the  border  are  the  Deltas,  the  ciphers  of  Diane  de  Poitiers,  indi- 
cating that  this  piece  was  woven  in  the  reign  of  Henry  II  for  Diane,  possibly  for 
the  Chateau  d'Anet. 

For  fertile  and  varied  imagination  this  piece  is  quite  uncommon  even  among 
grotesques,  the  most  imaginative  type  of  decorative  tapestries.  It  exhibits  a  most 
entertaining  sense  of  humor  and  shows  a  capricious  independence  never  found  in 
the  more  formal  Flemish  grotesques  of  the  time. 


37 

'""ool  and  Silk. 

H.  lift.  8  in. 

w.  8//. 


formerly  in  the 

ion  of  Edouard 

Kann,  Paris. 


FONTAINEBLEAU,  MIDDLE  XVI  CENTURY 

TRIUMPH  OF  DIANA:  The  goddess  in  a  blue  robe,  bearing  her  bow  and  arrows, 
drives  a  pale-blue  chariot  on  which  a  nymph  is  tied  prisoner.  Love,  whose  wings  are 
beautifully  multicolored,  also  is  a  prisoner.  Diana's  attendants,  garbed  in  blue  and 
red  tunics,  follow  on  foot,  one  in  the  foreground  in  a  green  tunic  leading  a  large  grey- 
hound. In  the  border  shells  alternate  with  crescents  on  a  blue  ground  and  in  the  corners 
above  are  crescents  and  rams'  heads.  The  mottoes  "Non  Frusta  Jupiter  Am  Bas'* 
and  *'Sic  Immota  Manet"  are  in  the  upper  and  lower  borders  respectively.* 

The  tapestry  was  evidently  made  for  Diane  de  Poitiers,  mistress  of  Henry  II,  the 
subject  being  chosen  as  a  personal  tribute. 

Aside  from  its  evident  beauty,  the  piece  is  important  because  it  is  one  of  the 
few  remaining  examples  of  the  work  of  the  Fontainebleau  looms,  which  adapted 
to  tapestry  the  characteristic  Italian-French  Renaissance  decoration  that  was 
formulated  in  the  frescoes  of  Fontainebleau.  There  are  few  documents  left  on 
these  looms,  but  it  is  known  that  le  Primatice  made  designs  for  tapestries  woven 

*For  further  discussion,  see  Gazette  des  Beaux  Arts,  2mc  Periode;  Montaiglon,  Diane  de  Poitiers  et  Son 
GoUt  dans  les  Arts,  t.  XIX,  p.  152. 


The  Crucifixion 


No.  35 


CATALOGUE 


43 


there,  and,  judging  from  the  drawing  of  the  figures  with  the  long  limbs  and  heavily- 
marked  muscles  that  reflect  the  influence  of  Michael  Angelo,  and  the  contour  of 
the  small  heads  with  the  hair  flowing  back  and  the  classical  features,  together 
with  such  other  details  as  the  long  flexible  fingers,  this  piece  would  seem  to  be 
an  example  of  his  work.  If  not  by  le  Primatice,  it  was  certainly  done  directly 
under  his  influence;  but  it  could  scarcely  be  by  Baudouin,  judging  from  the  recently 
discovered  set  in  the  Viennese  exhibition,*  for  it  has  more  poise  and  clarity  of 
space  than  any  of  those  tapestries. 

For  grace  and  charm,  without  any  loss  of  strength,  this  surpasses  most  French 
work  of  the  period.  It  is  an  unusually  typical  illustration  of  the  French  Renaissance 
which  took  the  technique  of  the  Italian  revival  of  the  antique  and  refashioned 
it  to  her  own  spirit,  giving  the  classic  goddesses,  even  in  their  dignity,  youthful 
and  feminine  appeal,  and  refining  the  Italian  opulence.  The  floreation  in  the  fore- 
ground is  as  delicate  as  in  a  XVIth-century  millefleurs,  and  the  colors  are  unusu- 
ally luminous. 

Francesco  Primaticcio  (i  504-1 570)  studied  under  a  disciple  of  Raphael  and  worked  with  Giulio  Romano 
on  the  decorations  of  the  Palace  de  Te,  Mantua.  In  1532  be  went  from  Italy  to  Fontainebleau  to  work 
on  the  decorations  there.  In  1540  he  returned  to  Italy  to  collect  works  of  art  for  the  king.  He  returned 
to  France  and  continued  to  create  decorations  at  Fontainebleau  with  a  large  staff  of  Italian  painters 
as  his  collaborators;  Under  Francis  II  he  became  Superintendent  of  the  Building; 


Lent  by 
Wildenstein  ^ 
Company. 


PARIS,  EARLY  XVII  CENTURY 

THE  NIOBIDES:  Apollo  and  Artemis  from  a  cloud  shoot  down  the  children  of 
Niobe,  thus  avenging  their  mother,  who  had  been  outraged  by  Niobe's  boasting  that 
she  had  the  more  children.  Border  of  fruit  garlands  and  figures  in  camaieux. 

The  tapestry  is  one  of  the  Artemis  series  designed  for  Marie  de  Medici  by  Toussaint 
du  Breuil.  It  was  woven  on  the  looms  which  were  under  the  direction  of  Marc 
Comans  and  Frangois  de  la  Planche,  and  which  later  became  the  Gobelins  state 
manufactory.  The  cartoons  were  repeated  many  times  with  different  borders. 
Judging  by  the  border,  this  piece  was  woven  about  1611. 

The  piece  is  a  splendid  example  of  the  dramatic  and  monumental  character  of 
the  productions  of  the  pre-Gobelins  looms. 

The  sensitive  feeling  for  decorative  fitness  and  the  reserve  that  are  evident  in 
French  designs  from  the  Gothic  period  on  differentiate  such  a  cartoon  as  this  from 
the  contemporary  Flemish  productions,  usually  so  violent  and  exaggerated  in  scale, 
in  drawing,  and  in  emotional  expression.  For,  though  dramatic,  the  scene  is  re- 
strained and  the  figures  have  an  almost  sculptural  detachment.  This  quality  is 
sustained  by  the  fine  architectural  border,  which  is  very  typical  of  the  Paris  looms 
of  this  period. 

Toussaint  du  Breuil  (1561-1602)  painted  decorations  in  the  Pavilions  des  Poeles  at  Fontainebleau, 
and  also  in  the  Galerie  des  Rois  in  the  Louvre.  Most  of  his  work  has  perished; 

*La  Renaissance  de  VArifrangais,  1 921,  p.  159  iL\  E.  Dimier,  La  Tenture  de  la  Grande  Galerici 


38 

Wool. 

H.  13//. 

w.  id  ft.  9  in. 


Formerly  in  Marnier- 
Lapostalle  Collec- 
tion, Paris. 
Reproduced: 
Guifrey,  Les  Gobelins 
et  Beauvais,  p.  15; 
Hauser  y  Menet, 
Los  Tapices  de  la 
Corona  de  Espana, 
vol;  2,  pi.  132. 


Lent  by 

Jacques  Seligmann 

^  Company. 


44 


CATALOGUE 


39^40 

Vool  and  Silk. 

No.  39: 

H.  7//.  9  in. 

w.  13//.  6  in. 

No.  40: 

H.  7  //.  9  /;?. 

w.  1 1  //. 


Formerly  in  the 

Collection  of 

Lord  Lovelace. 


Lent  by 
llliam  Baum- 
1,  ^  Company. 


GOBELINS,  XVI  CENTURY 

TWO  SCENES  FROM  THE  HISTORY  OF  CLEOPATRA:  In  the  first  (No. 
39)  Cleopatra  attended  by  two  maidens  greets  a  young  prince  who  is  being  introduced 
to  her  by  a  general.  In  the  harbor  the  young  stranger  s  ship  is  seen. 

In  the  second  {No.  40)  Cleopatra  welcomes  a  young  man.  An  attendant  holds  a 
heavy  canopy  of  silk.  Beyond^  a  Greek  temple  is  seen. 

Side  borders,  only,  of  classic  decorations  on  a  red  ground  with  inset  medallions 
showing  the  Judgment  of  Paris. 

The  pieces  both  signed  in  the  lower  right  corner — Lefebvre,  with  the  fleur-de-lis 
and  G.  They  do  not,  however,  appear  on  the  records  of  the  Gobelins,  so  they  must 
have  been  done  by  Lefebvre  outside  of  the  official  work. 

They  are  strong  and  fresh  examples  of  the  early  work  of  the  Gobelins  weavers, 
and  typical  of  the  classicism  of  the  late  Renaissance  in  France.  The  requirements 
of  mural  decoration  are  met  by  the  monumental  character  and  sculptural  poise  of 
the  figures,  but  at  the  same  time  the  design  is  adapted  to  a  decorative  textile 
through  the  perfection  of  the  detail  and  the  richness  of  the  colors. 


41 

^00/  and  Silk. 
H.  7  //.  10  in. 
w.  13  ft.  4  in. 


Lent  by 

C.  Templeton 

Crocker. 


FLANDERS,  BEGINNING  OF  XVII  CENTURY 

VERDURE:  A  formal  garden  with  fountains  and  a  chateau  in  the  distance  and  various 
birds  in  the  foreground. 

Such  landscape  tapestries  were  a  characteristic  late  Renaissance  interpretation  of 
the  verdure  type,  a  transition  between  the  Gothic  millefleurs,  that  were  really  orig- 
inally landscapes  without  perspective  (cf.No.  11),  and  the  XVIIth-century  verdures 
(cf.N0.43).  It  is  a  very  successful  form  of  verdure,  for  they  are  broadly  effective 
from  a  distance  and  yet  have  a  sufficient  wealth  of  detail  to  yield  interest  on  closer 
exploration.  The  birds  in  this  piece  are  especially  carefully  observed  and  well 
drawn,  and  the  purity  and  vivacity  of  the  color  is  exceptional  for  this  type. 


42 

''ool  and  Silk. 

H.13A 
w.  lift. 


ther  example  in 

e  Imperiale  des 

ries,  Petrograd, 

No.  117; 


BRUSSELS,  LATE  XVII  CENTURY 

AMERICA:  In  a  tropical  landscape  an  Indian  with  bow  and  arrows  caressing  a 
crocodile.  Two  children  beside  him  smoking  pipes.  In  the  background  on  a  hill  a 
mission;  in  the  foreground  a  heap  of  fruits  and  flowers  and  precious  objects  symbolic 
of  the  wealth  of  the  New  World.  Border  of  fruits  and  flowers  with  corner  medallions 
representing  North,  East,  South,  and  West.  On  the  lower  selvage  the  Brussels  city 
mark  and  the  signature,  I.  V.  T>.  BEURCHT. 

The  piece  is  one  of  a  set  of  four  representing  the  four  quarters  of  the  globe.  It 
was  woven  by  Jean  Van  der  Beurcht,  one  of  the  great  weavers  of  Brussels,  who  is 
known  to  have  been  working  there  between  1690  and  1710.  The  Van  der  Beurcht 


CATALOGUE 


45 


family  had  for  several  generations  been  painters,  Jean  being  the  first  to  turn  from 
that  profession  to  tapestry  weaving.  He  was  followed  by  several  other  members 
of  the  family  (cf.  No.  s^),  all  of  whom  did  work  of  the  highest  quality. 

The  piece  is  a  splendid  illustration  of  the  romantic  attitude  toward  America 
at  the  time  and  a  reminder  of  the  importance  America  had  to  Europeans  as  a 
source  of  wealth.  The  mission  on  the  hill,  and  another  mission  settlement  in  the 
valley  of  which  a  glimpse  can  be  caught,  are  of  especial  interest. 


Lent  by 

P.  W.  French  ^ 

Company, 


44  CATALOGUE 

39,40     GOBELINS,  XVI  CENTURY 

yool  and  Silk,  TWO  SCENES  FROM  THE  HISTORY  OF  CLEOPATRA:  In  the  first  {No. 

No.  39:  39)  Cleopatra  attended  by  two  maidens  greets  a  young  prince  who  is  being  introduced 

H.  7//.  9  in.  to  her  by  a  general.  In  the  harbor  the  young  stranger's  ship  is  seen, 

w.  13  ft.  6  in.  In  the  second  {No.  40)  Cleopatra  welcomes  a  young  man.  An  attendant  holds  a 

No.  40:  heavy  canopy  of  silk.  Beyond,  a  Greek  temple  is  seen. 

H.  7  //.  9  in.  Side  borders y  only,  of  classic  decorations  on  a  red  ground  with  inset  medallions 

w.  1 1  //.  showing  the  Judgment  of  Paris. 

CORRIGENDUM,  Page  44,  No.  41. 

After  the  catalogue  had  gone  to  press,  Item  No.  41  as  originally  printed  having 
been  unavoidably  withdrawn,  the  following  should  be  substituted  for  it.  As  this 
is  a  substitution,  it  has  been  given  the  same  number,  although  in  the  historical 
sequence  it  would  logically  follow  after  No.  30. 

41     BRUSSELS,  XVI  CENTURY 

Vool  and  Silk.      VERDURE :  A  group  of  women  and  children  walking  through  a  flowery  meadow 

H.  II  ft.1  in.      meets  a  peasant  with  his  flock  of  turkeys.  In  the  middle  distance  a  party  of  hunters  on 

W.  13  ft.      horseback  and  a  group  of  peasants  harvesting.  In  the  background  a  formal  garden 

and  a  vista  of  hills  crowned  with  castles  with  numerous  small  figures.  Border  of  classical 

figures  and  small  landscapes  in  architecturally  framed  compartments. 

In  the  selvage  is  the  mark  of  a  weaver,  an  H  surmounted  by  a  V  and  J  resem- 
bling an  arrow-head,  which  occurs  on  a  number  of  fine  tapestries,  notably  the 
History  of  Alexander  in  Vienna,  and  a  set  of  Hunting  Scenes  in  the  South  Ken- 
sington Museum,  but  which  has  not  been  identified.  It  may  very  well  be  the 
signature  of  Jean  Van  Hans. 

These  sun-flooded  countrysides  in  blue  and  gold  with  touches  of  red,  full  of 
little  homely  incidents  dignified  by  pseudo-classical  costumes,  are  a  characteristic 
weave  of  Flanders  in  the  Renaissance  period.  They  satisfied  both  the  insatiable 
interest  in  genre  subjects  of  the  Flemings  and  at  the  same  time  the  demand 
of  their  patrons  all  over  Europe  for  the  classical  style.  This  piece  represents  the 
perfection  of  the  type,  brilliant  in  light,  interesting  and  convincing  in  the  episodes, 
more  graceful  in  drawing  than  were  most  of  these  cartoons  and  far  more  accur- 
ate in  weaving.  The  plan  of  the  garden  and  the  architecture  of  the  peasant's 
house  at  the  right  are  especially  interesting  records. 

The  border  follows  the  model  established  by  Raphael  in  his  cartoons  for  the 

famous  series  of  the  Apostles,  The  design  very  skillfully  meets  the  Renaissance 

Lent  by      desire  for  variety  of  interest  and  abundance  of  detail,  yet  keeps  the  clarity  and 

C.  Templeton      order  that  were  also  imposed  by  the  best  taste  of  the  Renaissance  and  that  are 

Crocker,      absolutely  necessary  in  a  semi-formal  decoration  like  that  of  a  border. 


i..! 


CATALOGUE 


45 


family  had  for  several  generations  been  painters,  Jean  being  the  first  to  turn  from 
that  profession  to  tapestry  weaving.  He  was  followed  by  several  other  members 
of  the  family  (cf.  No.  s^)j  all  of  whom  did  work  of  the  highest  quality. 

The  piece  is  a  splendid  illustration  of  the  romantic  attitude  toward  America 
at  the  time  and  a  reminder  of  the  importance  America  had  to  Europeans  as  a 
source  of  wealth.  The  mission  on  the  hill,  and  another  mission  settlement  in  the 
valley  of  which  a  glimpse  can  be  caught,  are  of  especial  interest. 


Lent  by 

P.  W.  French  ^ 

Company, 


FLANDERS,  XVII  CENTURY 

VERDURE  WITH  BEAR  HUNT:  In  a  forest  of  large  trees  hunters  shooting  and 
spearing  bears.  In  place  of  a  border,  large  columns  at  the  sides  with  floral  garlands 
hung  between  them  across  the  top. 

The  piece  is  a  type  of  verdure,  numbers  of  which  with  many  variations  were  pro- 
duced in  Flanders  during  the  XVIIth  century.  It  is  one  of  a  set  of  five,  and  is  a 
very  strong,  fresh  example. 

The  substitution  of  massive  columns  for  formal  borders  is  characteristic  of  the 
Baroque  period  and  serves  the  better  to  adapt  the  tapestry  to  the  prevailing  archi- 
tecture. 


43 

Wool  and  Silk. 
H.  lift.  lo  in. 
w.  lift. 


Lent  by 

P.  W.  French  ^ 

Company. 


BRUSSELS,  XVII  CENTURY 

TRIUMPH  OF  AUGUSTUS  AND  LINIA:  Caesar  offers  the  crown  of  victory  to 
Augustus,  who  kneels  before  him.  He  is  surrounded  by  his  attendants  and  his  chariot 
waits  in  the  background.  The  side  borders  are  of  flower-draped  columns,  top  and 
bottom  borders  of  fruit  and  flower  garlands,  with  ornaments.  On  the  side  borders  are 
cartouches  bearing  the  insignia:  Pax.  Aug.  and  Vic.  Aug.  {Pax  Augusta  and  Victoria 
Augusta) . 

The  piece  is  one  of  a  series  on  the  History  of  Julius  Caesar,  three  of  which  were 
in  the  Morgan  Collection.  It  has  all  the  abundance  and  dramatic  emphasis  char- 
acteristic of  the  Baroque  period. 

The  massive  yet  active  figures,  the  large  folded,  swinging  drapes,  the  luxurious 
and  heavy  accessories  are  all  typical  of  the  work  of  a  time  when  the  large,  the  im- 
pressive, and  the  elaborate  were  sought  in  all  forms  of  art.  The  manner  was  intro- 
duced into  tapestry  cartoons  by  Rubens  and  carried  on  by  many  of  his  pupils  and 
imitators.  Even  the  outline  of  the  composition  of  this  piece  follows  closely  that 
of  Rubens'  famous  Triumphs,  from  which  the  suggestion  for  the  cartoon  was 
undoubtedly  taken. 


44 

Wool  and  Silk. 

H.   lift. 

w.  iSft.  8  in. 

From  the  Morgan 
Collection,  No.  17. 
Another  example  in 
the  Swedish  Royal 
Collection. 
Illustrated: 
Bottiger,  Svenska 
Statins  Samiing, 
vol.  3.  pi.  XLII. 

Lent  by 

P.  W.  French  & 

Company. 


46 


CATALOGUE 


45     FLANDERS,  XVII  CENTURY 

/,  Silk,  Gold.      THE  VIRGIN  AND  CHILD:  The  Virgin  in  a  pale  red  gown  with  a  dark-blue 
H.  3//.  I  in.      cloak  Jailing  about  her  is  seated  on  the  ground.  The  child  holding  a  staff  in  the  form 
w.  4  //.      oj  a  cross  sits  on  her  knee.  Beyond  is  a  castle,  and  against  the  sky  a  high  mountain. 
Wide  floral  border.  The  high  lights  are  in  gold. 

This  is  a  most  exceptional  piece  of  tapestry,  evidently  made  to  special  order, 
probably  for  a  private  chapel,  after  an  Italian  Renaissance  painting.  The  exces- 
sive fineness  of  the  weave  and  the  unstinted  use  of  gold  to  render  the  high  lights 
indicate  that  it  was  made  for  a  person  of  wealth  and  importance. 

The  painting  is  faithfully  and  delicately  reproduced  and  the  border  is  remark- 
ably rich  and  glowing. 


46 


Lent  by 

^.  French  ^ 

Company. 


BRUSSELS,  LATE  XVII,  EARLY  XVIII  CENTURY 

SANCHO  IS  TOSSED  IN  A  BLANKET:  Sancho,  following  Don  Quixote's  example, 
has  refused  to  pay  the  innkeeper,  as  that  is  against  the  tradition  of  knights-errant  and 
their  squires.  So  the  clothmakers  of  Segovia  and  the  needlemakers  of  Cordova  who 
chance  to  be  there  toss  him  in  a  blanket,  while  Don  Quixote  sits  without  on  his  horse 
cursing  lustily. 

The  piece  is  one  of  a  set  of  illustrations  of  Don  Quixote  after  David  Teniers  the 
Younger.  The  scene  has  all  the  casual  and  convincing  informality  and  boisterous 
good  spirits  for  which  Teniers'  paintings  are  famous.  It  quite  catches  the  spirit 
of  the  romance  which  it  illustrates.  The  landscape  vista  is  unusually  lovely  in 
color. 

David  Teniers  the  Younger  (1610-1694)  was  trained  principally  under  his  father,  David  the  Elder, 
also  famous  for  paintings  of  peasant  episodes.  In  1633  he  became  Master  of  the  Guild  of  St.  Lukes, 
and  thereafter  was  Dean  of  the  Guild  and  painter  to  the  governor,  Archduke  Leopold  William,  a 
position  which  he  continued  to  hold  under  the  next  governor,  Don  Juan  of  Austria.  In  1663  he  helped 
form  the  Antwerp  Academy  of  Fine  Arts.  He  painted  innumerable  pictures  of  peasant  scenes,  many 
of  which  have  been  rendered  in  tapestry* 


BRUSSELS,  XVIII  CENTURY 

TWO  PEASANT  SCENES:  In  the  first  (No.  47)  a  group  of  peasants  has  stopped 
to  rest  and  talk  beside  a  stream  that  comes  tumbling  down  in  broken  cascades  beneath 
a  high  stone  bridge.  On  the  hills  in  the  background  are  farmhouses  and  the  ruins  of 
castles. 

In  the  second  {No.  48)  a  group  0 J  peasants  sits  and  stands  about  under  a  tree  in  a 
meadow,  in  which  cattle  and  goats  wander.  In  the  background  is  a  farmhouse. 

These  tapestries  after  Teniers  are  typical  of  his  illustrations  of  life  among  the 
peasants  and  of  his  decorative  and  romantic  yet  realistic  landscapes.  They  are 
in  weaving  and  color  of  the  best  quality  of  examples  of  this  type. 


Triumph  of  Diana 


No.  37 


CATALOGUE 


47 


MORTLAKE,  LATE  XVII  CENTURY 

PEASANTS  IN  A  LANDSCAPE:  A  group  oj peasants  has  stopped  by  the  wayside 
in  a  mountainous  landscape.  Above  is  a  shield  bearing  the  inscription  locatur  in 
Farms  sorts  ut  cum  Magna  Mercede  Fallat'' 

The  cartoon  is  after  Teniers.  The  Mortlake  renditions  of  these  cartoons,  which 
were  borrowed  from  Flanders,  have  a  clarity  and  sharpness  that  give  them  marked 
distinction.  The  towering  mountain  landscape  is  really  impressive. 

The  rendition  of  the  water  is  unusually  realistic  without  any  loss  of  decorative 
interest.  The  translation  of  water  into  a  woven  design  is  one  of  the  most  difficult 
problems  of  the  craft.  It  has  been  given  many  solutions,  of  which  this  is  the  most 
naturalistic. 


49 

Wool  and  Silk. 
H.  lo  ft.  4  in. 
w.  7//.  6  in. 

Formerly  In  the 

Collection  of 

Sir  John  Ramsay. 

Lent  by 

Frank  Partridge^ 

Inc. 


BEAUVAIS,  LATE  XVII  CENTURY  50 

HERMES  AND  THE  SHEPHERD :  Hermes  has  taken  the  Shepherd's  pipe,  leaving  Wool  and  Silk, 

the  caduceus  on  the  ground,  and  is  attempting  to  play.  They  are  in  a  wood  with  large  h.  loft. 

flowers  in  the  foreground.  In  the  background  there  is  a  glimpse  of  a  hilly  landscape  w.  8//.  8  in. 
and  a  formal  garden  with  fountains .  Wide  floral  border. 

The  piece  is  one  of  a  set  of  five  verdures,  most  of  which  have  hunting  scenes. 
While  there  is  no  signature,  and  there  are  no  records  on  them,  the  character  of 
the  foliage  and  of  the  floreation  makes  it  almost  certain  that  these  are  of  Beauvais 
manufacture.  While  in  some  details  they  resemble  contemporary  Aubusson  tap- 
estries, the  quality  of  the  color  is  rather  different.  Lent  by 

They  are  a  particularly  deep  and  quiet  type  of  verdure,  an  excellent  background      Mrs.  James 
for  fine  furnishings.  The  quality  of  the  greens  is  uncommonly  fine.  Creelman. 


BEAUVAIS,  BEGINNING  OF  XVIII  CENTURY 

VERDURE  WITH  DANCING  NYMPHS:  In  a  wooded  dell  are  four  nymphs 
dancing.  Beyond  is  a  glimpse  oj  an  open  pasture  with  cows. 

The  strong  and  brilliant  trees  throw  into  sharp  contrast  the  delicate  perfection 
of  the  bit  of  landscape  beyond.  The  nymphs  are  probably  after  Noel  Coypel.  The 
use  of  the  red  to  relieve  the  general  tone  of  green  is  especially  successful. 


51 

Wool  and  Silk. 
H.  10  ft.  9  in. 
w.  13  ft.  3  in. 
Lent  by 
Dikran  K. 
Kelekian. 


BEAUVAIS,  1685-1711  52 

THE  CONQUEST  OF  LOUIS  THE  GREAT:  Louis  XIV  on  horseback  with  two  Wool,  Silk,  Gold, 

attendants  points  with  his  cane  to  the  siege  of  a  city  whose  defenses  are  surrounded  h.  15//.  8  in. 

by  water.  In  the  upper  border  appear  the  arms  of  Count  Bruhl  of  Saxony.     The  w.  lift.  10  in. 
piece  is  one  of  a  set  of  seven. 


48 


CATALOGUE 


This  is  a  very  rare  example  from  one  of  the  earliest  sets  woven  at  Beauvais  when 
the  factory  was  under  the  direction  of  Behagle.  The  cartoon  was  designed  either 
by  Van  der  Meulen  or  his  greatest  pupil,  Jean-Baptiste  Martin,  later  called  Martin 
of  the  Battles,  because  of  a  famous  series  of  cartoons  which  he  made  for  the  Beauvais 
works  illustrating  the  victories  of  Sweden  over  Denmark. 

The  richness  of  the  king's  group  stands  out  brilliantly  against  the  clear,  cool 
color  and  sharp  geometrical  lines  of  the  background.  The  city  with  its  canals  and 
buildings  is  exquisitely  rendered,  an  interesting  anticipation  of  an  aeroplane  view. 

Adam  Frans  Van  der  Meulen  (1632-1690)  was  a  native  of  Brussels  and  studied  there  under  Peter 
Snayers,  but  on  recommendation  of  Le  Brun  was  invited  by  Colbert  to  Paris,  where  he  was  pensioned 
by  the  king  and  given  apartments  in  the  GobeHns.  In  1673  be  was  received  into  the  Academy;  He 
collaborated  with  Le  Brun  in  making  designs  for  the  Gobelins,  notably  for  the  series  of  The  History 
of  the  Kingi. 


BRUSSELS,  BEGINNING  XVIII  CENTURY 

THE  OPERATIONS  OF  THE  SIEGE  OF  LILLE:  Number  S3  represents  the 
battle  of  Wynendael  Wood.  Lord  Cobham  on  horseback  with  his  sword  drawn  is  in 
the  midst  of  his  troops. 

Number  54  shows  the  burning  of  Lille.  The  burning  city  is  seen  in  the  background. 
Soldiers  in  the  foreground  are  getting  bundles  of  wood  to  feed  the  flames. 

Number  SS  shows  cavaliers  foraging.  Soldiers  are  carrying  bundles  of  hay  for  their 
horses  and  a  lamb  lies  on  the  ground  ready  to  be  carried  off. 

Number  S^  shows  the  poisoning  of  a  spy.  The  cavaliers  have  just  given  a  glass  of 
poisoned  wine  to  a  young  woman  who  is  about  to  drink. 

The  borders  simulate  wooden  frames  and  carry  the  arms  of  Lord  Cobham. 

The  set  was  designed  by  Van  der  Meulen  for  Lord  Cobham,  who  served  under 
the  Duke  of  Marlborough  and  had  a  brilliant  military  career.  It  was  woven  at 
the  Royal  Manufactory  of  Brussels  under  the  direction  of  Leyniers,  whose  signature 
appears  in  the  border  of  three  pieces.  In  the  fourth  piece  is  the  signature  ACASTRO, 
Latin  for  Van  der  Beurcht. 

Cobham  inherited  Stowe  House  in  1697,  and  these  tapestries  until  recently 
hung  in  the  dining-room  there. 

The  set  ranks  with  the  strongest  and  most  effective  pieces  of  the  period,  rich 
both  in  illustrative  action  and  in  decoration.  The  weave  is  technically  perfect. 


GOBELINS,  MIDDLE  XVIII  CENTURY  (1747-1751) 

JULY  FROM  THE  "MONTHS"  OF  LUCAS:  From  a  series  of  designs  of  the 
Months^  used  in  Brussels  since  the  XVth  century  and  attributed  without  verification 
to  Lucas  Van  Leyden.  The  scene  represents  a  falconing  party. 

The  piece  has  the  last  type  of  border  used  for  the  set,  the  so-called  Dresden  border, 


s 


p 


CATALOGUE 


49 


representing  a  carved  and  gilded  wood  frame  with  corner  ornaments  surrounded 
by  naturalistic  flowers,  and  with  a  sign  of  the  Zodiac  (Leo)  in  a  cartouche  at 
the  top. 

The  piece  was  probably  woven  in  the  tenth  weaving  between  1741  and  175 1 
on  the  upright  looms  in  the  atelier  of  Cozette.* 

This  Is  an  unusually  clear  and  brilliant  example  of  a  famous  Gobelins  set. 


Lent  by 

P.  W.  French  ^ 

Company. 


GOBELINS,  XVII  CENTURY 

DECEMBER  FROM  THE  "MONTHS"  OF  LUCAS :  A  nobleman  greets  a  peasant 
woman  and  her  child,  while  a  man  and  woman  carrying  a  baby  wait  for  him.  In  the 
background  a  castle  and  people  skating  on  the  ice.  The  piece  is  incomplete. 

This  tapestry  is  from  the  same  set  as  the  preceding,  but  woven  almost  a  century 
earlier,  and  it  Is  interesting  to  contrast  the  changes  that  the  change  in  taste  has 
made  in  the  feeling  of  the  rendition  and  the  color  key.  During  the  XVIIIth  century 
the  cartoon  was  refined  with  slight  changes.  The  hand  of  the  old  man,  for  example, 
was  modified  to  hold  a  fruit  for  the  child.  The  piece  probably  is  from  the  third 
or  fourth  weaving.  If  so,  it  was  done  on  the  horizontal  looms  in  the  atelier  of 
Lef6bvre,  outside  of  the  official  work  of  the  Gobelins.t 

This  Is  one  of  the  few  really  successful  renditions  of  a  snow  scene  In  tapestry. 


58 

Wool  and  Silk. 
H.  9//.  4  in. 
w.  6  ft.  8  in. 

Another  example  in 
the  Vienna  Collection, 
Noi  I09i 

Lent  by 
Wildenstein  & 
Company. 


BEAUVAIS,  LATE  XVII,  EARLY  XVIII  CENTURY  (1684-171 1) 

CHINESE  GROTESQUE;  Under  an  arbor  clowns  conduct  a  circus.  Above  the 
arbor  are  scrolls,  garlands,  birds,  musical  instruments,  and  other  decorations.  On  a 
yellow  ground. 

This  is  one  of  a  famous  series  of  grotesques  by  Berain  on  a  yellow  ground,  woven 
several  times  at  the  Beauvais  works  when  they  were  under  the  direction  of  Behagle.$ 
The  entertaining  fantasy  of  the  conception,  together  with  the  delicate  drawing 
and  the  beautiful  ground  color,  makes  this  one  of  the  finest  grotesques  of  the 
XVIIIth  century. 

Jean  Berain  (1638-1711)  was  appointed  in  1674  designer  to  the  king,  and  in  this  position  designed  the 
scenery  and  costumes  for  the  court  balletSi  He  is  famous  for  his  decorations; 

*Fenaille,  Etat  gineral  des  Tapisseries  de  la  Manufacture  des  Gobelins,  Piriode  Louis  XIV,  pp.  337, 
34 if.,  344,  370i 

Wenaille,  Etat  gSneral  des  Tapisseries  de  la  Manufacture  des  Gobelins,  PSriode  Louis  XIV,  pp.  337, 
343fM  369. 

XBadin,  La  Manufacture  de  la  Tapisserie  de  Beauvais,  pi  iii 


59 

Wool  and  Silk. 
H.  9//.  8  in. 
w.  16//.  5  in. 


Lent  by 

P.  W.  French  ^ 

Company. 


so 


CATALOGUE 


60,    61 

Vool  and  Silk. 

No.  60: 

H.  I5J^  in. 

w.  19  /;2. 

No.  61: 

H.  15K  /w. 

W.  19  zw. 


nt  by  Maison 
marin,  Paris* 


BEAUVAIS,  XVIII  CENTURY 

TWO  STILL-LIFE  PIECES:  In  one  {No. 60)  a  glass j  a  napkin,  and  some  vege- 
tables  on  a  table.   In  the  other  {No.  61)  various  vegetables  about  a  china  dish. 

These  panels,  after  paintings  by  Chardin,  are  the  only  recorded  examples  of  still-life 
composition  in  tapestry.  From  the  middle  of  the  XVth  century  household  utensils 
and  various  other  types  of  accessories  were  used  to  contribute  richness  of  ornamen- 
tation to  scenes,  and  during  the  Baroque  period  embossed  metals  and  lavish  carvings 
became  especially  important  in  creating  a  luxurious  effect,  but  not  until  tapestry 
was  thought  of  as  a  form  of  painting  was  a  purely  still-life  subject  attempted.  All 
still-life  designs  depend  so  much  on  contrasted  weights,  and  especially  on  textures, 
that  they  are  particularly  difficult  to  translate  into  a  medium  which,  like  tapestry, 
renders  primarily  silhouettes  and  which  has  such  a  decided  texture  of  its  own.  But 
the  extraordinary  skill  of  the  XVIIIth-century  French  weavers  was  equal  even  to 
that  problem.  The  skillful  care  of  the  composition  of  the  original  paintings  and  the 
pure  beauty  of  the  colors  of  the  tapestry  make  of  rather  unpromising  subjects  beau- 
tiful decorations. 

Jean  Simeon  Chardin  (i 699-1 779)  studied  under  Noel  Coypel  and  assisted  Jean  Baptiste  Van  Loo  In 
restoring  one  of  the  galleries  of  Fontainebleau.  He  was  admitted  to  the  Academy  In  1728.  His  early 
work  was  devoted  to  still-life  subjects  principally,  his  later  to  peasant  scenes,  in  which  there  are  often 
fine  Incidental  still  llfes. 


62 


^00/  and  Silk. 

H.  gft.  8  in. 

w.  10//.  9  in. 


AUBUSSON,  MIDDLE  XVIII  CENTURY 

THE  PRIEST  AND  CARDENIO  MEET  DOROTHY:  The  priest  and  the  barber 
while  looking  Jor  Don  Quixote  come  across  Cardenio.  While  Cardenio  is  telling  them 
the  sad  story  of  how  his  love,  Lucinda,  has  been  stolen  from  him  by  the  treachery  of 
Don  Fernando  they  hear  someone  lamenting.  Following  the  sound  of  the  voice,  they 
find  Dorothy  disguised  as  a  shepherd-boy  bathing  her  feet  in  a  stream.  She  is  on  her 
way  to  seek  Don  Fernando,  who  is  her  pledged  husband  and  who  has  deserted  her 
for  Lucinda.  In  the  background  Don  Quixote,  exhausted  and  starved  from  his  wander- 
ings, lies  on  the  ground,  while  the  faithful  Sancho  pleads  with  him  to  return  to  Toboso. 
The  border  simulates  a  carved  frame.  On  the  lower  selvage  is  the  signature  M.  R. 
DAUBUSSON.  MAGE.  PICON. 

The  piece  is  one  of  a  series  of  illustrations  by  Coypel,  originally  designed  for  the 
Gobelins,  and  was  engraved  and  used  in  many  editions  of  the  romance  both  in 
France  and  Spain.  Several  looms  made  tapestries  after  the  engravings,  including 
those  of  Santa  Barbara  in  Madrid. 

The  signature  is  the  mark  of  the  royal  manufacture  of  Aubusson,  and  of  Mage, 
a  tapestry  merchant  in  Paris  in  1746,  and  Picon,  dyer  to  the  king  from  1748  to 
1756.  The  piece  was  evidently  made  in  the  royal  works  of  Aubusson  to  the  order 
of  the  dealer  Mage  under  the  supervision  of  Picon,  who,  from  his  position,  was 
evidently  one  of  the  most  important  members  of  the  staff  there. 


Verdure  with  Trancing  Nymphs 


No.  5] 


The  Conquest  oj  Louis  the  Great 


No.  52 


CATALOGUE 


51 


The  piece  shows  Aubusson  work  at  its  richest  and  finest.  The  foliage  of  the 
trees  with  every  leaf  shown  and  broken  up  into  small  spots  of  changing  color  is 
very  typical  of  Aubusson,  and  quite  different  from  the  manner  of  the  Flemish 
shops  (cf.  No.  5s).  The  colors  are  remarkably  fine. 

Charles  Antoine  Coypel  (1694-1752)  entered  the  Academy  in  1715,  and  the  next  year  made  a  series 
of  twenty-eight  designs  illustrating  Don  Quixote  for  the  Gobelinsi  A  second  important  series  which 
he  designed  for  the  Gobelins  illustrated  scenes  from  the  theatre;  He  was  a  favorite  painter  of  Queen 
Marie  Leczinska;  He  wrote  several  comic  dramas  and  had  an  interest  In  an  understanding  of  the 
theatre  which  is  reflected  In  his  tapestry  designs,  which  are  conceived  always  as  a  theatrical  scene  in 
a  stage  setting,  with  actors  making  the  proper  expressive  gestures. 


Lent  by 

P.  W.  French  ^ 

Company. 


PARIS,  XVIII  CENTURY 

BACCHANTE:  A  young  bacchante  wearing  a  tiger  skin  and  holding  Pan^s  pipes. 
In  an  oval  panel. 

This  panel  is  after  a  portrait  by  Coypel.  Though  it  does  not  appear  on  the  official 
registers  of  the  Gobelins,  the  technique  would  indicate  that  it  was  probably  by  a 
Gobelins  weaver,  who  quite  often  worked  outside  of  the  official  orders. 

The  delicate  execution  reproduces  faithfully  the  piquant  charm  of  the  painting; 
even  the  most  delicate  gradations  of  tones  are  exactly  reproduced. 


63 

Wool  and  Silk. 

Oval; 

H.  28  in. 

w.  23  in. 

Lent  by 

Jacques  Seligmann 

^  Company. 


GOBELINS,  XVIII  CENTURY 

PORTRAIT  OF  LOUIS  XV:  This  portrait,  after  a  painting  by  Van  Loo  made  J  or 
the  Gobelins  in  1760,  is  one  of  a  series  of  the  royal  family.  It  is  in  the  original  frame. 

While  tapestry  is  not  an  appropriate  medium  for  portraiture,  a  portrait  is  the 
supreme  test  of  the  skill  of  the  weaver.  In  this  piece  the  effect  of  the  painting  is 
reproduced  with  remarkable  fidelity.  The  warp  is  vertical. 

The  technical  difficulty  was  the  greater  because  almost  the  entire  piece  was 
woven  in  wool,  the  proper  material  for  tapestry,  silk  being  relied  on  only  for  a  few 
high  lights.  As  a  portrait  it  has  directness  and  conviction,  carrying  the  essential 
dignity  of  royalty.  The  XVIIIth  century,  which  first  undertook  to  weave  tapestry 
portraits,  produced  a  kind  of  portrait  that  was  especially  ill-adapted  to  this 
material;  for  the  likenesses  depended  primarily  on  the  delicate  modeling  pro- 
duced by  a  very  sensitively  differentiated  scale  of  values  and  scarcely  at  all  on 
lines.  Even  in  Gothic  tapestries  there  are  many  heads  that  are  striking  por- 
traits, but  these  are  entirely  graphic  in  character  and  so  fitted  for  tapestry.  In 
rendering  this  portrait  the  weavers  had  literally  to  paint  with  the  shuttle. 

Carle  Van  Loo  (i 705-1 756)  studied  in  Rome  under  Luti  and  Le  Grosi  In  his  youth  he  painted  scenery 
for  the  opera  with  Bouchen  In  1737  he  was  admitted  to  the  Academy,  and  in  1762  made  first  painter 
to  the  king. 


64 

Wool  and  Silk. 
H.  25  in. 
w.  21  in. 

Illustrated: 
Bottiger,  Svenska 
Statins  Samling,  vol. 
2.  pi.  XLI;  Fenaille, 
Etat  general  des 
Tap  is  series  de  la 
Manufacture  des 
Gobelins,  Dix' 
huitieme  Siecle,  2me 
Partie,  p.  311;  as 
portrait  of  Louis  XVI, 
in  Migeon,  Les  Arts  de 
Tissu,  p.  33Si 

Lent  by 

P.  W.  French  & 

Company, 


65 


Wool. 
H.  13  //.  3  in. 
w.  8  //.  3  in. 
ther  rendering  in 
enna  Collection, 
-,  253;  another  in 
Musee  Imperiale 
uries,  Petrograd, 
Noi  118: 

Lent  by 
Demotte. 


52  CATALOGUE 

GOBELINS,  FIRST  HALF  XVIII  CENTURY 

THE  INDIAN  HUNTER:  This  tapestry  is  one  of  a  set  of  eight  illustrating  the 
New  India  after  designs  by  Francois  Desportes.  The  set  was  first  woven  in  1687. 
This  piece  has  the  first  type  of  border  used  with  the  series,  bearing  the  arms  of  the 
king,  which  means  that  it  was  woven  before  1768  under  either  Cozette  or  Neils  on. ^ 

The  design  is  typical  of  the  romantic  primitivism  that  Rousseau  formulated  in 
his  conception  of  the  Noble  Savage.  The  accuracy  of  detail  in  the  Indian  basket 
is  interesting  and  rather  unexpected. 

Frangols  Desportes  (1661-1743)  studied  under  Bernaert,  a  pupil  of  Snyders.  He  entered  the  Academy 
in  1699  and  was  made  painter  to  the  king.  He  is  famous  for  his  paintings  of  animals  and  hunting  scenes. 


66 

Wool. 
H.  lift.  I  in. 
w.  11  ft.  2  in. 
;rly  in  Collection 
Count  Polovzoff, 

Petrograd. 
other  example  in 
e  Swedish  Royal 

Collection; 

Illustrated: 
BoUiger,  Svenska 
Statins  Samling, 
irol.  3.  ph  LXVIi 

Lent  by 

ues  Seligmann 

^  Company. 

67 

Vool  and  Silk. 
H.  1 1  //.  9  in. 
w.  14//.  6  in. 


BEAUVAIS,  XVIII  CENTURY  (1777) 

THE  THEFT  OF  THE  TRUNK:  A  group  of  gypsies  surround  a  traveler's  car- 
riage, and  while  some  tell  the  lady  s  fortune  and  receive  alms  others  attempt  to  steal 
a  trunk  from  the  baggage-rack  behind. 

The  tapestry  is  one  of  the  series  Les  Bohemiens  by  Francois  Casanova,  and  was 
woven  in  Beauvais  when  the  factory  was  under  the  direction  of  Andre  Charlemagne 
Charron,  whose  initials  it  bears  in  signature.  According  to  the  inventories,  the 
series  has  been  woven  only  twice — once  in  1777  for  the  king,  and  again  in  I799.t 
The  vividness  of  the  minor  episodes  and  the  vivacity  of  characterization  of  even 
the  lesser  actors  make  this  a  most  interesting  tapestry.  The  weaving  is  done  with 
exquisite  skill  and  the  color  is  unusually  fresh  and  charming. 

Frangois  Casanova  (1730-1805)  went  to  Italy  in  1727  where  he  studied  under  Guardi  and  Francesco 
Simonini;  He  returned  to  France  and  later  studied  under  Parocel.  In  1763  he  was  received  into  the 
Academy  and  exhibited  in  the  salons  until  1783; 


BEAUVAIS,  XVIII  CENTURY  (1735-1740) 

THE  ARMS  OF  FRANCE  AND  NAVARRE:  Two  angels  on  clouds  support  the 
coat  of  arms  before  an  ermine  drape  against  a  ground  of  fleur-de-lis  on  blue. 

The  angels  are  after  Boucher,  the  only  coat  of  arms  in  tapestry  known  to  which 
Boucher  has  contributed.  It  is  evidently  one  of  several  fleur-de-lis  pieces  listed 
in  the  accounts  of  Beauvais  between  1735  and  1740  and  may  be  the  one  made 
for  the  Parliament  of  Rouen  in  the  latter  year.t 

*FSnaillet  Etat  gSniral  des  Tapisseries  de  la  Manufacture  des  Gobelins,  Dix-huiti^me  Steele,  Partie 
II,  Pi  4ofF. 
^Badin,  La  Manufacture  de  la  Tapisserie  de  Beauvais,  p.  644 
XBadin,  La  Manufacture  de  la  Tapisserie  de  Beauvais,  pj  754 


CATALOGUE 


S3 


It  is  an  unusually  rich  and  interesting  armorial,  the  angels  with  their  char- 
acteristic Boucher  grace  adding  great  beauty  to  the  formal  setting. 

Francois  Boucher  (1703-1770)  studied  with  Lemoyne  and  during  that  time  painted  scenery  for  the 
Opera,  a  work  to  which  he  returned  in  the  height  of  his  career  (1737-44);  In  1734  he  became  Academi- 
cian. In  1735  he  was  appointed  head  of  the  Gobelins  by  Marigny.  In  1765  he  was  made  first  painter 
to  the  king  and  Director  of  the  Academy;  In  the  years  between  1740  and  1755  he  painted  many 
cartoons  for  the  Beauvais  tapestry  works;  Among  his  most  famous  tapestry  suites  are  the  Loves  of 
the  Gods,  the  Chinese  Hangings,  and  the  Italian  Fetes-, 


Lent  by 

P.  W.  French  ^ 

Company. 


GOBELINS,  XVIII  CENTURY  (1767) 

THE  FORTUNE-TELLER:  Two  peasant  girls  seated  on  the  ground  by  a  fountain 
are  having  their  fortune  told  by  another  girl.  A  naked  baby  clings  to  her  skirts.  From 
one  side  a  goat  looks  on  inquisitively.  It  is  signed  F.  Boucher  and  dated. 

This  is  one  of  a  series  of  cartoons  in  small  size  made  by  Boucher  for  the  Gobelins 
while  he  was  director.  They  were  very  popular  and  have  been  woven  a  number 
of  times. 

The  piece  shows  how  remarkably  the  delicate  gradations  of  tone,  on  which 
Boucher's  essential  quality  depended,  could  be  translated  into  the  weave  by  the 
extraordinarily  skillful  craftsmen  of  the  Gobelins. 

As  in  all  of  Boucher's  cartoons,  the  subject  is  only  an  occasion  for  his  own  charm- 
ing decorative  mannerisms.  As  a  rendition  of  peasant  life,  it  is  interesting  to  con- 
trast this  cartoon  with  the  honest  literalness  of  Teniers  (cf.Nos.  47-49). 


68 

Wool  and  Silk. 
H.  4//.  II  in. 
w.  6  ft.  6  in. 

Illustrated: 
Finaille,  L'Etat 
genSral  des  Tapisserie 
de  la  Manufacture  des 
Gobelins,  Dix-huiti^me 
Sikle,  2me  Partie,  p; 
238. 

Lent  by 
Duveen  Brothers. 


AUBUSSON,  LATE  XVIII  CENTURY 

BAIGNEUSE:  A  bather  attended  by  amorini  is  about  to  step  into  a  woodland  stream. 
In  an  oval  frame  surrounded  by  an  encadrement  of  garlands  upheld  by  amorini  and 
satin  drapes  in  the  manner  of  Huety  on  a  gray  ground. 

The  central  panel  is  after  Fragonard,  a  subject  that  he  repeated  with  many  varia- 
tions. The  piece  is  typical  of  the  Aubusson  work,  delicate  in  color  with  the  deco- 
rative effect  depending  largely  on  the  flowery  encadrement. 

Jean  Honor6  Fragonard  (1732-1806)  studied  under  Boucher,  Greuze,  and  Chardin,  and  is  usually 
considered  the  successor  of  Boucher.  In  1752  he  was  given  Grand  Prize  for  Painting;  He  was  a  favorite 
painter  of  Madame  Du  Barry,  for  whom  he  did  a  great  deal  of  work; 


69 

Wool  and  Silk. 
H.  9//.  10  in. 
w.  7//.  5  in. 


Lent  by 

P.  W.  French  ^ 

Company. 


AUBUSSON,  LATE  XVIII  CENTURY  70 

AU  BORD  DU  MER:  In  an  oval  panel  are  peasants  landing  from  a  rowboat.  In  Wool  and  Silk, 

the  harbor  under  a  cliff  is  a  sailing  vessel.  In  an  encadrement  of  red  and  blue  flowers  h.  8//.  10  in. 

and  ribbons  on  a  gray  ground.  w,  6  ft.  6  in. 


54 


CATALOGUE 


The  central  panel  Is  after  Vernet,  who  was  particularly  famous  for  his  port  scenes. 
The  encadrement  is  unusually  rich  and  delicate. 

Claude-Joseph  Vernet  (1714-1789)  first  studied  under  his  father  as  a  decorative  painter  of  wall  and 
furniture  panels;  Afterward  he  studied  under  Bernardino  Fergiori  in  Rome  to  be  a  marine  painter* 
In  1735  he  was  received  by  the  Academy.  His  most  famous  paintings,  of  the  seaports  of  France,  are 
in  the  Louvre; 


71 
Wool. 

H.  9//. 

w.  5//. 


AUBUSSON,  XVIII  CENTURY 

CHINESE  GROTESQUE:  A  Chinaman,  fantastically  dressed,  stands  between  two 
tall  tropical  trees.  On  a  pale-blue  ground. 

The  piece  Is  a  delightful  example  of  the  taste  for  chinoiseries  which  the  Pompadour 
fostered  for  the  benefit  of  the  French  East  India  Company,  In  which  she  was 
interested,  and  which  taste  was  eagerly  followed  by  the  frivolous  and  bored  French 
court,  always  seeking  novelty. 


AUBUSSON,  XVIII  CENTURY 

ARMORIAL:  On  a  red  ground,  two  angels  support  a  shield.  Border  of  scrolls. 

This  crisp  and  delicate  little  armorial  Is  a  fine  example  of  the  best  quality  of  work 
done  at  Aubusson  in  the  late  XVIIIth  century.  The  clear  drawing  on  the  deep-red 
background  makes  a  vivid  piece  of  decoration. 

The  rendition  of  a  coat  of  arms  in  tapestry  Is  difficult,  because  the  decorative 
value  of  heraldic  devices  depends  almost  entirely  on  the  beauty  of  the  line-drawing, 
and  tapestry,  because  of  the  character  of  the  weave  and  the  surface.  Is  not  a  good 
medium  for  clean  lines.  In  the  earlier  periods,  therefore,  the  shield  was  usually 
made  incidental  to  a  design  better  adapted  to  tapestry  (cf.  No.  9).  It  was  only  well 
into  the  XVIIIth  century  that  the  bearings  could  be  woven  delicately  enough  to 
let  them  stand  alone. 


IMPERIAL  RUSSIAN  TAPESTRY  WORKS, 
ST.  PETERSBURG,  1811 

CATHERINE  THE  GREAT:  Catherine  stands  in  her  robes  of  state  holding  the 
sceptre  while  the  Imperial  crown  rests  on  a  stool  beside  her.  On  the  wall  is  the  Russian 
motto,  NACHATOYE  SOVERCHAYET  {'What  is  begun  is  accomplished'').  It  is 
signed  and  dated. 

For  sheer  technical  skill  the  rendition  of  this  portrait  is  unsurpassable.  The  repre- 
sentation of  textures  is  remarkable,  quite  on  a  par  with  the  cleverest  paintings  of 
the  period. 


The  Poisoning  of  a  Spy 


No.  56 


^    ^     ^    H>^     -h     Tf-    '-p   A    ^     ^   ,^ 


4^.^ 

os^mmt 

f 

^^    ^\l 

#^ 

*^  4 

€ 

#«■  «f» 

^ 

«*•  * 

^     ^  ^ 

^ 

«i»  >y 

*     ^     «f.i 


^     ^fr 


«§,.    «i^    «i»    «5»    *^      A|a   *f*  ;■*   «i^ 

*•      €!«•      eS»      «S»      «i»      <#»      «ie-      «&*       «|^      «!»«§« 


CATALOGUE 


55 


It  is,  in  truth,  an  absolutely  perfect  reproduction  of  a  painting — a  painting, 
moreover,  that  from  the  character  of  all  the  accessories  is  particularly  difficult  to 
render  in  wool;  and  while  it  is  by  no  means  the  business  of  tapestry  to  imitate 
painting,  it  is  nevertheless  an  interesting  display  of  remarkable  virtuosity.  The 
personal  power  of  the  forceful  old  Empress  is  strongly  presented.  From  every  aspect 
this  is  one  of  the  greatest  portraits  in  a  woven  medium.  In  general  color  tone  the 
piece  has  remained  faithful  to  the  character  of  tapestry,  sustaining  the  rich 
quality  that  the  solid  texture  demands.  In  spite,  also,  of  the  need  for  many 
delicately  graded  values  to  render  the  stuffs  and  the  modeling,  the  weavers  have 
kept  the  color  in  large  enough  masses  to  be  broadly  decorative. 


Illustrated: 
Hunter,  Tapestries,  pi. 
229;  also,  Candee, 
Tapestry  Book,  opp.  p. 
133, — but  wrongly 
attributed  to  the 
Gobelins. 

Lent  by 

P.  W.  French  & 

Company. 


MADRID,  LATE  XVIII  CENTURY  74 

THE  CARD  PLAYERS:  ^  group  of  men  and  women  playing  at  cards  sit  about  Wool  and  Silk, 

a  table  on  which  is  thrown  a  rich  brocade.  One  of  the  company  sits  to  one  side  playing  h.  5//. 

a  lute.  w.  8  //. 

This  piece  is  one  of  the  rather  uncommon  examples  of  the  work  of  the  Santa 

Barbara  looms  of  Madrid.  The  skill  of  the  weavers  is  remarkable  in  reproducing 

the  heavy  modeling  of  the  deep  shadows  and  the  delicate  modulations  of  the  Lent  by 

faces.  For  the  perfect  rendition  of  the  effect  of  a  painting  in  tapestry  it  cannot  Duveen  Brothers. 

be  excelled. 


ADDENDA 

The  tapestries  entered  under  this  heading  were  received 

too  late  to  be  entered  in  their  proper  order 

in  the  body  of  the  catalogue 


BRUSSELS,  BEGINNING  OF  XVI  CENTURY 

THE  RESURRECTION:  The  risen  Christ  discovered  by  Peter.  Upper  left,  the 
Agony  in  Gethsemane;  upper  right,  Christ  appearing  to  Mary  in  the  garden.  In  the 
background,  the  angel  appearing  to  the  three  women.  Border  of  fruits  and  flowers, 
grapes,  roses,  and  iris  interspersed  with  finches  and  a  paroquet. 

This  tapestry,  the  last  of  a  series  illustrating  the  Passion  of  Our  Lord,  was  designed 
in  the  studio  of  Bernard  Van  Orley,  and  may  be  the  work  of  Van  Orley  himself, 
though  there  were  some  of  his  students  and  followers  who  in  purity  of  conception 
and  elevation  and  sensitiveness  of  feeling  were  superior  at  times  to  the  master 
himself.  The  weaving,  unsurpassable  in  technical  perfection,  may  be  the  work  of 
the  Pannemaker  looms.  The  quality  of  the  design  and  weaving  and  the  lavish  use  of 
gold  all  indicate  that  this  series  was  made  for  a  great  church  or  a  noble  family. 
The  weavers  at  this  period  had  attained  complete  mastery  of  the  shuttle.  This 


7S 

Wool,  Silk,  Gold. 
H.  9//.  7  in. 
w.  yft.  8  in. 


56 


CATALOGUE 


Formerly  In  the 

Collection  of  the 

Due  d'Albei 


Lent  by 

s.  miliam  H. 

Crocker, 


absolute  technical  control  made  possible  the  exact  translation  into  tapestry  of  the 
intricate  Renaissance  patterns.  The  finish  and  elegance  of  the  goldsmith's  art  which 
characterized  so  much  of  Renaissance  design  is  perfectly  rendered. 

However,  while  the  weaving  was  fitted  to  the  requirements  of  the  Renaissance  at 
this  time,  it  had  not  yet  sacrificed  any  of  its  qualities  as  tapestry.  Nor  did  the  designs 
of  Bernard  Van  Orley  force  the  weavers  out  of  their  proper  limitations.  For  though 
he  was  Italian  trained  and  saturated  with  Renaissance  influences,  he  was  still 
close  to  the  technical  problems  of  the  weaver's  art  and  he  adjusted  the  new  manner 
in  painting  to  them.  So  this  piece  is  rich  in  jewel-like  detail  that  enriches  without 
crowding  the  whole  surface.  The  drawing  of  the  flowers  and  the  birds  is  exquisite. 
The  figures  also,  in  spite  of  their  dramatic  force,  keep  the  aloof  poise  that  decora- 
tive art  demands.  Finally,  by  means  of  a  dispersion  of  substantial  tones,  the  bril- 
liant suffusion  of  golden  light  which  the  Renaissance  loved  is  fully  achieved. 

Such  a  scene  as  this  is,  in  short,  one  of  the  last  great  monuments  of  the  perfec- 
tion of  Gothic  tapestry,  reinspired  by  the  new  insights  of  the  Renaissance  before  the 
ostentation  and  mistaken  conventions  of  Raphael  misguided  the  entire  art. 

Nor  is  it  merely  a  technical  triumph.  It  is  the  direct  expression  of  a  profound 
religious  emotion  which  shines  through  the  material  beauty,  elevates  it  above 
earthly  things,  and  sets  it  apart  in  glory.  Easter  has  scarce  had  a  lovelier  celebration. 


76 


Vool  and  Silk. 
H.  IS  ft, 
w.  19//. 


BRUSSELS,  XVI  CENTURY 

THE  TRIUMPH  OF  WISDOM:  Wisdom  with  her  two  herons  rides  in  a  chariot 
drawn  by  mythological  beasts.  In  the  upper  right  are  Perseus  and  Pegasus.  Before  the 
chariot  are  Ahasuerus,  Abigail^  Davidy  and  Saba.  Cassandra  walks  beside,  while 
Titus  and  his  soldiers y  Rachel,  and  Judith  with  the  head  of  Holof ernes  bring  up  the 
rear.  In  the  upper  left  Prometheus,  in  the  lower  Cadmus,  contending  with  the  dragons. 

This  is  one  of  a  very  famous  set  of  tapestries  illustrating  the  Triumphs  of  Petrarch 
and  a  number  of  other  Triumphs  invented  by  French  poets  in  imitation  of  Petrarch. 
The  cartoons  are  evidently  the  product  of  the  studio  of  Maitre  Philippe  (cf.  Nos. 
19,  20),  for  the  heads  of  several  of  the  minor  characters  are  regular  models,  often 
repeated  in  his  work.  The  cartoons  were  painted  and  also  executed  before  1523, 
because  in  that  year  Henry  VII  bought  eight  of  the  set,  four  of  which  are  still  at 
Hampton  Court.  This  piece,  however,  was  woven  in  the  middle  of  the  century,  as 
is  shown  by  the  character  of  the  heavy  floral  border.  In  the  selvage  is  the  Brussels 
city  mark  and  the  mark  of  the  Brussels  weaver,  Leo  Van  den  Hecke. 

The  design  is  full  of  the  oblique  symbolism  that  the  period  loved.  The  allusions 
are  drawn  with  equal  interest  from  classic  tradition,  secular  history,  and  Christian 
legend.  The  entire  past  has  been  laid  under  tribute  with  magnificent  disregard  of 
historical,  social,  and  religious  congruity.  Such  an  unclassified  assemblage  of  ex- 
citing personalities  might  even  cause  confusion  in  the  Day  of  Judgment.  It  is 
typical  of  the  Renaissance  catholicity,  the  Renaissance  eagerness  to  assimilate  all 


CATALOGUE 


57 


knowledge  and  be  always  as  impressive  as  possible.   Yet  the  figures  still  have  some 

of  the  stately  restraint  of  the  Gothic,  and  the  dispersion  of  the  points  of  interest,  Lent  by 

so  that  the  whole  textile  is  equally  covered,  is  a  remainder  from  the  Gothic  taste.  Mrs.  William  H, 

Truly  transitional,  it  represents  the  final  stage  of  Maitre  Philippe's  development.  Crocker. 


FLANDERS,  ENGHIEN  (?),  XVI  CENTURY 

VERDURE:  Scrolling  leaves  in  rich  blue-green  with  red  and  yellow  flowers  and 
fruits  on  a  very  deep-blue  ground.  A  wide  border  oj  clusters  oj  flowers  and  fruits. 

This  is  a  notably  brilliant  example  of  the  characteristic  Renaissance  verdure. 
The  drawing  is  both  accurate  and  vivacious,  the  colors  pure,  deep,  and  brilliant,  the 
wool  of  extraordinary  firmness  and  lustre,  while  the  weave  is  remarkably  close  for  the 
type.  Tapestries  of  this  class  are  so  often  perfunctory  in  conception  and  mechanical 
in  execution  that  we  need  a  piece  of  this  clarity,  strength,  and  perfect  finish  to 
show  how  splendid  are  the  possibilities  inherent  in  the  simple  design. 


77 

Wool  and  Silk, 

H.  5//. 

w.  6  ft.  II  in. 


Lent  by 

Mrs.  William  H. 

Crocker, 


FLANDERS,  LATE  XVII  CENTURY 

THE  CABRIOLE:  A  young  knight  shows  his  skill  in  jumping  his  horse.  At  the  left 
a  page  leads  in  a  sumptuously  caparisoned  horse.  At  the  right  a  large  fountain  is  seen 
through  the  trees  ^  and  in  the  background  is  a  formal  garden  with  fountains. 

Such  very  decorative  verdures,  half  realistic  landscapes,  were  among  the  finest  pro- 
ducts of  the  late  XVIIth  and  XVIIIth  centuries.  Audenarde  looms  wove  many  of 
the  best  pieces  of  the  type,  and  this  piece  probably  came  from  that  district.  The 
fountain  is  rendered  with  delightful  detail  and  animation,  and  the  drawing  of  flow- 
ing waters,  a  trying  problem  for  tapestry,  is  managed  with  admirable  dexterity. 


78 

Wool  and  Silk. 
H.  11//.  8  in, 
w.  IS  ft. 


Lent  by 

Mrs.  William  H, 

Crocker, 


ANTWERP,  LATE  XVII  CENTURY 

SCENES  FROM  THE  CHILDHOOD  OF  CHRIST:  On  a  black  ground  strewn  with 
flowers,  five  oval  panels  framed  with  wreaths:  the  Annunciation;  the  Nativity;  the  Adora- 
tion of  the  Magi;  the  Circumcision;  the  Flight  into  Egypt. 

This  very  unusual  tapestry  was  the  work  of  Balthasar  Bosmanns,  one  of  the  greatest 
weavers  of  Antwerp.  The  realistically  drawn  yet  richly  decorative  flowers  show  the 
influence  of  the  school  of  flower  painters  of  which  Jan  Brueghel  was  the  most 
famous.  The  landscape  in  the  Adoration  and  the  Flight  into  Egypt  are  rendered 
with  exquisite  delicacy.  The  effect  of  the  panels  in  such  light,  fresh,  almost  pastel 
colors  against  the  black  ground  is  a  daring  and  striking  decorative  experiment. 
Another  rendering  of  the  same  cartoon  is  in  the  Kunstgewerbe  Museum,  Berlin. 


79 

Wool  and  Silk, 
H.  32  in. 
w.  24  in. 

Illustrated: 
Schmitz, 
Bild-Teppiche 
p265i 

Lent  by 

Mrs.  William  H. 

Crocker. 


A  LIST  OF  WEAVERS 


The  following  is  a  list  of  the  most  prominent  weavers.  Such  men  as  Sir  Francis 
Crane,  of  Mortlake,  and  Delorme,  of  Fontainebleau,  have  not  been  included 
because  they  were  only  administrators.  It  is  possible  that  Grenier  was  not  a  weaver, 
though  he  may  have  been  both  weaver  and  contractor. 


Nicolas  Bataille 
Pasquier  Grenier 
Pieter  Van  Aelst 
Wilhelm  Pannemaker 
Francois  Geubels 
Hubert  de  Mecht 
John  Karcher 
Nicolas  Karcher 
John  Rost 
Philip  de  Mecht 
Francis  Poyntz 
Francis  Spierinx 
John  Vanderbanc 
Catherine  Van  der  Eynde 
Jean  Raes 
Everard  Leyniers 
Jacques  Van  der  Beurcht 
Marc  Comans 
Frangois  de  la  Planche 
Jean  Lefebvre 
Jean  Jans 
Gerard  Laurent 
Philippe  Behagle 
Cozette 
Le  Blond 
De  la  Tour 
James  Neilson 
Jacques  Van  der  Goten 
Antoine  Lenger 


Paris 

Tournai 

Brussels 

Brussels 

Brussels 

Brussels 

Ferrara 

Ferrara 

Florence 

Mortlake 

Mortlake 

Delft 

England 

Brussels 

Brussels 

Brussels 

Brussels 

Paris 

Paris 

Paris 

Paris 

Paris 

Beauvais 

Gobelins 

Gobelins 

Gobelins 

Gobelins 

Madrid 

Madrid 


XlVth  Century 

Middle  of  XVth  Century 

XVIth  Century 

XVIth  Century 

XVIth  Century 

XVIth  Century 

XVIth  Century 

XVIth  Century 

XVIth  Century 

XVIIth  Century 

XVIIth  Century 

XVIIth  Century 

XVIIth  Century 

XVIIth  Century 

XVIIth  Century 

XVIIth  Century 

XVIIth  Century 

XVIIth  Century 

XVIIth  Century 

XVIIth  Century 

XVIIth  Century 

XVIIth  Century 

XVIIIth  Century 

XVIIIth  Century 

XVIIIth  Century 

XVIIIth  Century 

XVIIIth  Century 

XVIIIth  Century 

XVIIIth  Century 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 

All  the  books  starred  (*)  may  he  consulted  in  the 
San  Francisco  Public  Library 


There  is,  unfortunately,  no  satisfactory  book  in  English  on  Tapestry  and  no 
wholly  satisfactory  book  for  the  general  reader  in  any  language.  The  following  are 
the  most  useful  and  are  readily  available. 

*Candee,  Helen  Churchill.  The  Tapestry  Book.  New  York,  191 2. 

A  somewhat  superficial  and  sentimental  sketch  of  the  history  of  tapestry,  with 
almost  no  interpretation  and  little  indication  of  the  relation  of  tapestry  to  the 
other  arts. 

DeMotte,  G.  J.  Les  Tapisseries  gothiques.  Paris,  1922. 

When  complete  will  contain  two  hundred  large  color  plates  of  incomparable 
beauty  and  fidelity.  Invaluable  as  a  source-book.  Will  contain  probably  the 
majority  of  important  examples  of  the  period. 

Guiffrey,  J.  J.  VHistoire  de  la  Tapisserie.  Tours,  1886. 

A  narrative  history,  now  superseded  in  a  number  of  respects. 

Guifrey,  J.  J.  UHistoire  de  la  Tapisserie  en  France  {UHistoire  gSnerale  de  la 
Tapisserie).  Paris,  1878-85. 

A  compilation  of  all  the  facts  available  at  the  time,  and  still  an  important 
fundamental  reference  work. 

Guifrey,  J.  J.  Les  Tapisseries  du  Xlle  h  la  fin  du  XVIe  Siecle.  Paris,  n.  d. 

The  most  detailed  survey  of  the  period,  but  unfortunately  poorly  organized. 
Superbly  illustrated. 

*Hunter,  George  Leland.  Tapestries:  Their  Origin,  History,  and  Renaissance.  New 
York,  191 2. 

An  unsystematic  assemblage  of  facts,  not  all  of  which  are  correct,  and  many  of 
which  are  irrelevant. 

Migeon,  Gaston.  Les  Arts  de  Tissu  {Troisieme  Partie).  Paris,  1909. 

A  complete  and  readable  account  of  the  history  of  tapestry,  with  some  excellent 
interpretations. 

Miintz,  Eugene.  UHistoire  de  la  Tapisserie  en  Italic,  en  Allemagne,  etc.  {UHistoire 
generale  de  la  Tapisserie).  Paris,  1878-85. 
Similar  to  Guiffrey's  volume  in  the  same  series. 


6o  BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Muntz,  Eugene.  La  Tapis serie.  Paris,  1883. 

A  brief  presentation  of  the  general  history,  superseded  at  some  points,  but  with 
valuable  illuminating  interpretations.  « 

Pincharty  A.  UHistoire  de  la  Tapisserie  dans  les  Flandres  {UHistoire  generale  de  la 
Tapisserie).  Paris,  1878-85. 
Similar  to  the  other  volumes  of  the  same  series. 

Schmitz,  Herman.  Bild-Teppiche.  Berlin,  191 9. 

By  far  the  most  systematic,  scholarly,  complete,  and  informing  book  yet  pub- 
lished on  the  subject. 

^Thomson,  W.  G.  A  History  of  Tapestry.  New  York,  1906. 

A  conventional  history  with  useful  tables  of  marks,  but  limited  by  being  illus- 
trated entirely  with  examples  in  England. 

*  Thorns  on,  W,  G.  Tapestry  Weaving  in  England.  New  York,  19 14. 

The  fundamental  reference  on  this  aspect  of  the  subject,  with  full  reproduc- 
tion of  documents. 

In  addition  to  the  above  titles,  there  are  a  great  number  of  monographs  on 
various  phases  of  the  subject,  many  of  which  are  excellent.  For  example:  Thiery, 
Les  Incriptions  des  Tapisseries  de  Jean  Van  Room,  Louvain,  1907,  is  an  able  piece 
of  work,  a  model  of  exact  scholarship.  The  majority  of  these  monographs  are 
of  interest  only  to  the  special  student.  Schmitz  refers  to  the  more  important 
of  them  in  his  foot-notes. 


SUBJECT   &  TITLE   INDEX 

Every  tapestry  is  listed  by  its  respective  catalogue  number^  and  a  star  (*) 
indicates  the  tapestry  is  illustrated 

n 

LOOMS    REPRESENTED   IN   THE  EXHIBITION                        Numbers 

Aubusson  62,  69,  70,  71,  72 

Beauvais  *5i,  *52,  59,  60,  61,  66,  *67 

English  49 
Flemish  Gothic  *3,  *4,  *5,  7,  *I4,  15,  16,  *I7,  18,  19,  20,  *2i,  75,  76 
Flemish  Renaissance                23,  24,  *25,  *26,  27,  28,  29,  30,  31,  32,  23^  34>  *35>  77 

Flemish,  XVIIth  Century  *4i,  42,  43,  44,  45,  46,  78,  79 

Flemish,  XVIIIth  Century  47,  48,  <,2i  54>  55>  *S^ 

Fontainebleau  *2>^,  *37 

French  Gothic  *i,  *2,  *8,  9,  *io,  11,  12,  *i3 

French,  XVIIth  Century  *38,  *39,  40,  50,  58 

German  and  Swiss  Gothic  6,  *22 

Gobelins  57,  63,  64,  65,  68 

Russian                                                .  73 

Spanish  74 

ALLEGORICAL,  CLASSICAL,  HISTORICAL,  AND 

MYTHOLOGICAL 

America  4^ 

Augustus  and  Linia,  Triumph  of  44 

Bacchante  (>3 

Chinese  Grotesque  59 

Chinese  Grotesque  7^ 

Cleopatra,  Two  Scenes  from  the  History  of  *39j  4° 

Cyrus,  Two  Scenes  from  the  Life  of  *26,  27 

December  from  the  '*  Months'*  of  Lucas  5^ 

Diana,  Triumph  of  *37 

Grotesques  *3" 

Hercules,  the  History  of  7 

Indian  Hunter,  The  65 

July  from  the  ''Months''  of  Lucas  57 

Louis  the  Great,  The  Conquest  of  5^ 

Niobides,  The  *38 

Priest  and  Cardenio  Meet  Dorothy,  The  62 

Roman  de  la  Rose,  Scenes  from  the  4 

Romance,  Scenes  from  a  ^^ 


62  SUBJECT     &    TITLE    INDEX 

Sancho  is  Tossed  in  a  Blanket  46 
Scipioy  Three  Scenes  from  the  Deeds  of  23,  24,  *25 
Siege  of  Lille ^  The  Operations  of  the                                                        ^^y  54>  SSi*S^ 

Wisdom  J  Triumph  of  76 

ARMORIAL 

Armorial,  Aubusson,  XVIIIth  Century  72 

Armorial,  Bruges,  1556  34 

Arms  of  France  and  Navarre,  The  *67 

Millefleurs  Armorial  with  Wild  Men  9 

Millefleurs  with  Shepherds  and  the  Shield  of  the  Rigaut  Family  *io 

GENRE   SCENES 

Au  Bord  Du  Mer  70 

Baigneuse  69 

Cabriole,  The  78 

Card  Players,  The                                                             .*  74 

Chase,  The  *2 

Fortune-Teller,  The  68 

Pastoral  Scene  .*I3 

Peasants  in  a  Landscape  49 
Peasant  Scenes,  Two                                                                                              47>  48 

Theft  of  the  Trunk,  The  66 

Two  Pairs  of  Lovers  *22 

Vintage,  The  *5 

LANDSCAPES 

Garden  Scene  30 

Hunting  Scene  32 

Millefleurs  with  Animals  1 1 

Millefleurs  with  Animals  12 

Verdure,  Enghien  {?)  ;^2 

Verdure,  Enghien  {?)  77 

Verdure,  Flanders,  XVI th  Century  31 

Verdure,  Flanders,  XVI I  th  Century  *4i 

Verdure:  Hermes  and  the  Shepherd  50 

Verdure  with  Bear  Hunt  43 

Verdure  with  Dancing  Nymphs  *5i 

PORTRAITS 

Catherine  the  Great  73 

Louis  XV  64 


SUBJECT    &    TITLE    INDEX  63 

RELIGIOUS    SUBJECTS 

Annunciation,  The  *i 

Annunciation,  the  Nativity  and  the  Announcement  to  the  Shepherds,  The  *3 

Childhood  of  Christ,  Scenes  from  the  79 
Creed,  Three  Pieces  from  a  Series  Illustrating  the  *I4,  15,  16 
Creed,  Three  Pieces  from  a  Series  Illustrating  the                                        *i7,  18,  19 

Crucifixion,  The  *^^ 

David,  The  Triumph  of  *2l 

Entombment  on  Millefleurs  *8 

Judith  Departs  for  the  Enemy's  Camp  29 

Life  of  Christ,  Scenes  from  the  6 

Pentecost,  The  28 

Resurrection,  The  75 

Virgin  and  Child,  The  45 

STILL    LIFE 

Two  Still-Life  Pieces  60,  61 


SAN  FRANCISCO 
1922 


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